Dawn of a Heroine
by Uncle Sporkums
Summary: Gender reversal Golden Age Superwoman story based on the Max Fleischer cartoons. This is the origin story where we follow young Clara from her escape on Krypton, her formative years in Smallville discovering her powers, then traveling to Metropolis to begin her official superheroine career battling a Nazi threat.
1. Chapter 1

"Never underestimate the power of a woman." - Nellie McClung

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Chapter 1: Child of the Stars

Space. The word itself brings thoughts to many minds of an enormous majesty containing vast untold amounts of stars and planets, far too numerous to count.

Some lightyears beyond our own galaxy, fixed in the middle of a starfield, was the planet Krypton. At this time, because of it's high harmless radiation level, Krypton gave off an unusual green glow, which if viewed from afar, it would have been mistaken for a green star.

Thousands of miles above the planet, burned the majestic red sun christened "Rao" by Krypton's inhabitants. It became an object of wonder and worship among them because of it's blinding intensity, and constant warmth.

Past Krypton's atmosphere, on it's surface, was a vast futuristic city. Tall buildings made of glass and an unknown steel-like substance that reached far up to the Heavens propagated the reflective metal streets. The sky was a deeply tinted green, with the occasional light green cloud passing by. The dark blue vegetation that grew in various rustic areas of the planet clashed with the futuristic designs of the citys. Lettuce green oceans and lakes teemed with various lifeforms, as on the surface, animals which would have been considered odd on Earth were commonplace here, such as the rabbit eared, six legged, snake skinned, deer-like Wahok, and others too bizarre to identify.

The inhabitants of the planet all looked human in appearance, with the same appendages, hair, and facial construction that Earthlings do. Except, that all over the planet, there was not one malformed Kryptonion at all! All of the males and females were tall in stature, physically fit, and extremely pleasing to the eye. This was due in part to the constant advanced genetic experiments performed on the inhabitants over the centuries. These experiments also led to the Kryptonians slowly but surely developing superhuman abilities, such as super strength and the ability to leap long distances with absolute ease,  
as well as obtaining genius intelligences.

Since their creation, the two sexes had learned to live in total equality, they both held the same types of vocations, be it construction, landscaping, law, science, even entertainment.

The wardrobe on Krypton was pretty much the same for both sexes. Tight, form fitting outfits made of a spandex like material in warm months, and loose, baggy robes in the cold and for cerimonial purposes.

In the thriving city of Sahin, lived the couple of Jor-L and Lora-L.

Jor-L was a tall, solidly built man with short, even, straight black hair, and a well chiseled, tanned face, and a rock hard, slightly cleft chin, and dark, mysterious brown eyes. He was the heir of a large construction company that had built many of the towering institutions in Sahin. He was usually dressed in a tight, dark green leotard with matching briefs and boots.

Lora-L (formerly Lor-Van) was equally impressive looking, if not more. She was highly statuesque, slightly towering over her husband at 6'5''. Her full, wavy shoulderlength brown hair fell gracefully around the frame of her face, which like her husband's, looked like it was carved out of marble like a statue from ancient Rome. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled like a sun illuminated lake. Her narrow, even, nose didn't take up much of her face. Her full, pink, luscious looking lips sat above a sharp, well defined chin. Her fair, ivory skin seemed to glow of it's own accord, as if it alone could illuminate any room. Her beautiful, flawless pearl white smile could do the same. She was garbed in a similar light blue leotard with the same colored accesories. Her two large, perfectly round and proportioned bosoms protruded proudly from her chest. Her stomach showed quite clearly that she was also nine months pregnant.

Lora had risen from poverty to prominance as a scientist, after graduating from one of the nearby town of Haderrn's most prestiegous learning facility with honors, she went into the scientific field. Eventually, at the tender age of 22, Lora became famous the planet over, when her massive intellect led to the discovery that matter could be engineered that could contain matter many times it's own size. This discovery, dubbed the "Phantom Zone Effect" was demonstrated to the scientific council. Immediately following, Lora, despite her young age, was offered a position on the council's main board.

It was at a socialite party for Sahin's up and coming well-to-do crowd, Lora met Jor at a party, and it was love at first sight. They both realized that they enjoyed quite a number of the same interests, and both held relatively the same worldview. They were inseparable from that day forth, and soon enough, were wed.

Around the time Lora learned that she had concieved a child, she also came upon another realization, a frightening one!

You see, about 10 years ago, rather large earthquakes had begun to ravage Krypton's many countrysides, leaving many farmers penniless. However, as time went onward, the quakes began to become more and more violent, eventually spreading to towns,  
causing huge rifts in the ground and toppling over houses, claiming many casualties. Finally, after an entire city crumbled to the ground, Lora couldn't take it anymore, and decided to use her brilliant mental skills to investigate.

After obtaining a grant from the council, Lora built several probes and sent them deep within Krypton's crust at varying lengths to try to determine the cause. When she recovered the data from the one sent in the farthest, she was shocked!  
Krypton's core was highly unstable, and was growing more so by the second!

So, Lora arranged a meeting with the Scientific Council to discuss the situation.

The faces of the Council were all just about the same. Cold and as serious as a painting by one of the old Renaissance masters. They all sat at a high table that was curved in an arrow-like manner. Lora stood in front of it, as if she were a plaintiff presenting her case to the court.

Lora motioned for silence with the palms of her hands facing foreward. The Scientists complied.

"Fellow Council Members." Lara's slightly deep, yet very feminine voice had an air of authority to it, as if she were the head of the council. "What I am about to impart to you all is of the upmost importance!"

"Please proceed, Lora-L. We are in an attentive state." Per-A, the council leader, a fit, older gentleman with a full head of white hair, that glistened on top of his heavily tanned skull like a snow peaked mountain said in his usual monotonous tone.

Lora brushed the insincere comment aside and continued. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an urgent matter that requires our immediate attention and action! I have just learned from several weeks worth of research that this planet's core, which is responsible for the violent and deadly quakes of the past decade, is highly unstable and is threatening to rip this very world apart! And I'm quite certain it shall, for I forsaw our planet's destruction in a premonition!" She concluded quite loudly, bringing her closed fist down on her open palm with a smack for effect. The sound that followed completely stunned the young scientist. It has the sound of loud, abrasive laughter coming from the Council!

After he finished, Per wiped a tear from his eye, and said with a large grin spread on his face, said "Surely you jest,  
Lora-L! You expect us to believe that a series of scattered tremors spells an immediate death sentence for all of Krypton?"

"I am quite serious, Council Leader!" Lora said, indignation quite evident in her voice as she furrowed her thin brown brows.  
"And with all due respect, I do not care for your mocking of this very real discovery!"

"ENOUGH!" Nel-R, a young, brash, blonde haired man who had it in mind to obtain the Council Leader's chair when Per-A departed, and didn't mind sucking up to him to try to obtain it, shouted furiously. "You forget yourself Lora-L! Remember to whom you are speaking!"

However, Lora was not one to be shouted down. "Nel-R! I am well aware of whom I'm speaking to, but that is no excuse for you all to abuse the authority entrusted to you!" She fired back, righteous fury quite evident in the deep blue pools of her eyes.

Sela-Tal-Ram, a middle aged woman with slightly faded, curled, red hair who had been with the council nearly as long as Per, leaned foreward in her seat, her hands folded neatly on the desk in front of her. "Lora-L, we understand how strongly you feel about this, but you must understand that we are scientists, and that we have been on the Council far longer than you, and we cannot accept a theory based on something you forsaw in a dream! We must have hard, substantiated facts!" she said sternly.

"I am quite aware of that, and I shall give you facts! I could bring the probe that sat above the core, and could show you the data recorded inside it! The fact of the matter is that we must evacuate this planet as soon as possible! For both the current beings of Krypton..." Lora said, before looking down and rubbing the small lump beginning to form on her stomach.  
"...and the generation to come."

Per closed his aged silver eyes and sighed deeply before opening them again. "Lora-L, you have every right to fear for the life of your child, but this alarmism simply makes you look like a fool. I warn you, if you continue in this nonesense, you will be removed from the Council!" He said seriously, his eyes boring into her, before concluding angrily, putting up his right index finger for emphasis "And take note, young woman, any attempt to evacuate this planet will be taken as an act of treason, and is punishible by immediate execution!"

Instead of giving the expected "So it shall be." Lora gave one last contemptful glare to the Council, turned on her heel, and walked toward the elevator, the automatic sensor opening the doors at the hint of her presence.

From the minute she had left the room, Lora had decided. [To Hell with the Council!] She and her family would leave the planet without their say so! Damn the consequences!

The moment Lora got home, she immediately began laboriously sketching out designs of an escape rocket. Taking into consideration the similarities and differences of different planets that were able to support life, and came upon the planet of Earth. It was lightyears away, and culturally inferior to them, yet it was the only planet that could sustain their lives.  
Besides that, the beings of Earth looked exactly like those of Krypton, so it was settled. When Jor arrived, Lora told him all about her plan.

"Leave Krypton?!" Jor asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Jor, it's either that or perish when this planet explodes!" Lora fired back.

"A..Are you absolutely certain that it's going to explode?!" Jor asked in a surprised voice.

"I'm positive! You can check the results of my inspecting probes if you don't believe me!" Lora responded.

Jor stared at his wife deeply in the eyes. He had always believed his wife, and he wasn't going to stop now. He smiled lovingly at her. "Alright, sweetheart. What do I have to do?" he asked warmly.

Lora handed him the rocket schematic drawing, and said plainly "I need you to cook up the materials to build this. But we'll need a smaller prototype first."

It was now several months later. Lora was in the ninth and final month of her pregnancy. Yet she, along with her husband were still working around the clock finishing the prototype ship, making sure that the aerodynamics and propulsion were perfect for the purposes suited for it.

The rocket was six feet in length, with the appearence of a large silver artillary shell, it's front was covered by a medium sized red nosecone, it's back accentuated by three equally sized red tailfins, and it's rather large nozzle. It had a four-by-  
four openable hatch which was cushioned with a comfortable red velvet-like Kryptonian material for the test subject, probably a small animal, to be placed in.

Finally, it was finished, then fueled. They decided that after a short rest, that they would use one of their housepets as a test subject.

Jor turned to his wife. "Lora, darling." He said, with some uneasiness in his voice "Are you sure you should be working on this when you're so close to your due date?"

Lora smiled at her husband, with a slight smirk of superiority. "Come now, Jor, It's not as if I'm an invalid. I.." She said,  
before her voice trailed off. Suddenly, a look of discomfort came across her face. She grabbed her abdomen, as a steady stream of liquid came pouring from between her legs.

"Lora, dear, what's the matter?!" Jor asked urgently, his face flushed with fear.

Lora gasped for air as she tried her best to speak "Jor..Oh..M-my water..The baby, Jor..The baby is coming!"

"What?! Now?!" Jor asked in a terrified voice, his eyes bugging out of their sockets. He quickly began to calm himself.  
"Alright, I'll c..contact the medical staff, th..they should be here shortly." he said, slightly stammering. "N..No, Jor!..There's n..no..Ugh!..Time!..The..Ooh!..The baby is coming out now! W..We must act quickly!" Lora groaned, still doubled over with pressure.

"A..Alright, Alright, w..we'll go to the bathing pool!" Jor said, beginning to gather his thoughts, as he took his troubled wife's hand, and they left the room together. The bathing pool was on the second floor of the couple's luxiourious house, it was quite wide, like a hottub, and was self- filling, cleaning and heating. At the moment the couple, Jor helping Lora along, passed the motion sensor, the tub immediately began filling up and heating itself.

Jor assisted his wife in disrobing, then helped her along as she gently stepped into the slightly hot tub until the water was up to her bulging stomach. Lora continued to let out small moans of discomfort at certain intervals.

Jor quickly stripped as well, then eased his way into the tub, joining his wife. He took his love's hands in his own and began stroking them softly.

"That's right...That's right, darling...It'll all be over soon." Jor said comfortingly.

"Oooh...I know darling...I..Ugh...I know." Lora bravely smiled despite her brief spots of pain.

Jor moved his left hand from his wife's clasp and placed it gently on her back, beginning to carefully rub it.

"Relax, my darling. Relax." He said reassuringly, before saying saying with some anticipation in his voice that only a parent posesses " Now..push..push..you need to push!"

Lora tightened her face and began doing so, letting out several small grunts and fragile sighs.

"Push! Push, my darling, push!" Jor continued encouraging.

"I'm..UGH!..Trying my hardest, my love!..UNGH!" Lora gasped, her face crimsoned with effort and saoked with perspiration.

Then, from below the water, Jor could make out the top of the head with a small tuft of black hair sticking out from between his wife's legs!

"Darling! The child! She's crowning!" Jor said in a thrilled voice! "Give another push, my love! Push with all your might!"  
He coached enthuisiastically!

"UNNGGHH!" Lora grunted as she gritted her teeth until she was sure that they were going to crack, pushing with all she had!

The child shot from her mother's utereus into the water like a bullet fires from a gun, tethered by the umbilical cord! Jor immediately scooped up the child in his arms from the depths of the pool, and brought her up to the air.

She was the average size and weight of a child on Earth, her skin pudgy and reddened. Except she wasn't crying a bit, only giggling and cooing, as if the harrowing experience of being born had greatly amused her!

Jor was overjoyed! "Lora, darling, look! It's a girl! Just as the Identiscope said! And look, she has my hair and your eyes!"  
He said with the great cheer of a new father. Indeed, the girl's hair tightened over her otherwise bald pink skull was as black as the night sky, and her eyes as blue and shimmering as the finest diamond, and it twinkled with her laughter.

"Le..Please, let m...me hold h..her." Lora said between exhausted pants. Jor did so. Now in her mother's arms, the child seemed completely at home, she gave a broad, toothless grin to the woman who had given her life. The young mother smiled back at the fruit of her love and said in a voice which was just one decible above a whisper "Hello, my darling child. I have waited for nine long months to hold you in my arms like this. And now, Rao has granted me my wish! As you will eventually travel through the stars with us, your name shall be Kara. This is also an appropriate name for you because of the planet we shall travel to. You see, from the recordings I have recieved from Earth, the name Kara is used there as well. On that planet it means "Pure", and you are my purest treasure." She told the child lovingly, to which the newly christned Kara smiled happily once more.

Jor chuckled gratefully. "Kara! What a wonderful name to honor her with, Darling!" he said appreciatively.

All of a sudden, Kara's tiny foot suddenly lashed out in an involuntary spasm, which kicked her father right in the stomach,  
propelling his entire body from the pool! He landed a couple of feet away!

After composing himself, Jor let out another deep chuckle. "Well, she certainly has inherited our strength, that's for sure!"  
he said.

Lora looked down warmly at her daughter who seemed to have a triumphant grin on her lips, saying "That's my girl!" softly, as she raised the child to the nipple of one of her rather large, swelling breasts, and her daughter began drinking the nourishing milk within.

Kara's cord was cut, and she was cleaned off. Lora, as all Kryptonian mothers do, had the strength to go back to her daily routine just seconds after giving birth. The young couple still couldn't believe that they had brought a child into the world. They clothed the child in a dark blue unitard, and placed her in a Kryptonian bassinet, which is circular rather than rectangular, and hovered several inches off the ground. Then, went back to put the finishing touches on the prototype rocket before they went off to bed.

Suddenly, there came a low rumbling noise from beneath their feet! "Jor! Don't tell me it's another quake!" Lora said in a state of shock.

"Don't worry, darling, it's just a passing tremor, it won't attack us." Jor reassured her, although he wasn't so sure himself.

As if to answer Jor, The floor beneath them, and the ceiling above began to split and crack! Dust rained on them from above!  
All the lights in the room went out!

"Darling, I can't see you!" Jor called out to his wife, feeling around the room for her form as if he had been struck blind.

"I'm right here, Darling! Don't worry, the emergency power will kick in soon!" Lora said, grasping her husband's hand in the pitch black darkness. Sure enough, the room was suddenly lit by a series of dim lights.

The rumbling in the room suddenly increased! Large cracks started going up the walls! Kara just laughed and clapped her hands in amusement! This was fun for her!

Jor looked out the shattered window at the terrifying view in front of them! The ground was splitting up, buildings were crumbling and sinking into the broken earth! "Lora, the entire city is going under! It's the end of Krypton like you said!  
WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" He shouted with complete fear in his voice.

Lora quickly looked at Kara in her crib and quickly rushed over and lifted her out, bringing her over to the rocket, and throwing open the hatch "Maybe so for us, but not our daughter!" She said courageously!

"You're putting her in the prototype rocket?!" Jor said in horror.

"It's either that or her death!" Lora said angrily. "We don't have time to argue, Jor!"

Lora kissed her daughter gently on the forehead and placed her inside the rocket, "G..Goodbye my p..precious Kara. L..Let your brief memories of us s..stay with you forever!" She loudly imparted to her daughter over the sound of the gargantuan quake with tears in her eyes. She then quickly opened up a side compartment and in a flash, adjusted the gyros to Earth's latitude and longitude, while Jor bent foreward and kissed Kara on the cheek, saying "Goodbye, my lovely daughter!" to Kara, who reached her arms out, smiling, for Jor to pick her up. With great regret, Jor resisted it, and with a final tearful glance, Lora shut and locked the hatch.

"Do you think she'll get there safely?!" Jor shouted to his wife over the bedlam.

"Rao willing, she will!" Lora said confidently. She'd like to see the faces of the Science Council now! In fact, she'd like see each one of them apologise to her for not believing her! The thought then left her.

The floor behind the two suddenly began to cave in! "QUICK! HIT THE IGNITION BUTTON!" Jor urgently shouted to his wife!

Lora did so! A steady stream of white smoke began to emerge from the nozzle. Then, The fuel ignited, sending a burst of golden flame out the back! The thrust propelled the rocket with a high pitched whistle into the night sky, now glowing with fire as the ruined city burned.

It was at that moment that the floor beneath the young couple collapsed! The two fell screaming to the basement below, now flooded with water from burst pipes! As the two soaked lovers watched the roof and the rest of their house come crumbling towards them, Lora screamed to Jor over the deafening roar "I LOVE YOU JOR! I LOVE..." The debris reached them, and silenced them.

The rocket had left Krypton's atmosphere, and was now traveling at quick pace away from it. Those who were still alive on the planet were either lifting their hands to Rao and cursing him for allowing this to happen, or asking him desperately to save them as they either were crushed by rubble or burning alive, or drowning. But there was no response. The core then expanded and exploded, ripping the planet apart, as if it were a giant balloon being popped, with an earsplitting bang! Then, there was nothing...

It was several hours later, and the incredibly fast rocket entered our Solar System. Inside her cramped quarters, little Kara didn't know exactly what was going on, she had the vague impression that she was moving. She wondered when her parents would open the hatch, as she wanted to see them, they were such loving people. Just now, however, she felt better than she ever had, so much stronger! Instinctively, the Kryptonian tot placed her hands against the solid steel door, and without applying much pressure at all, left two little hand indentations in the hard, unyielding material! She was satisfied and clapped her hands together, with an appreciative coo. Then there came that bumpy feeling that she had felt quite some time ago..she didn't like this part very much, but it didn't really bother her, in fact, it was kind of fun!

The rocket became red hot as it entered Earth's atmosphere. By coincidence or by destiny, whichever you prefer, it was headed for a cornfield in the small town of Smallville, Kansas... 


	2. Among Lesser Beings

Chapter 2: Among Lesser Beings

Tears rolled down Sarah Kent's face as she drove the 1908 Ford Model-T down the long, even dirt road in the middle of the appropriately named town of Smallville, Kansas. Sarah was depressed to the point of death. How the Doctor had regrettably told her about the fact that she was barren. The terrible fact that she would never bear children, that she would never hold an adorable, squirming child of her own in her arms.

Then again, the life of a farmer's wife had more than it's share of disappointments. Whether it was a drought for several months that ruined the crops, a twister that took away property and lives, or even thieving politicians who taxed them to death.

Sarah was a fetching woman, tall and lean, with a full head of wavy, necklength auburn hair, a pearly white smile, and gem-  
like, shimmering green eyes.

She was born Sarah Godard in Omaha, Nebraska. She had had vivid dreams of being an agricultrualist and working with all types of plant life in rustic settings away from the hustle and bustle of the city. At the age of 18, She attended Omaha U., but after she was not satisfied with the curriculum, she decided that the city was too diatracting, and after trying her hand in her the rustic areas, and finding nothing available to her, she decided to give Kansas a try.

She would soon be glad she had. She arrived in the quaint town of Smallville, just several miles from Topeka, and enrolled in Smallville University. At an agricultural studies class , Sarah found herself sitting next to a tall, handsome man of around her age, of a very strong build, with short, straight brown hair, hard yet loving deep brown eyes, and a quite tan complexion.

As the two got aquainted, they got to talking, and he introduced himself as Ebenezer Kent, although he insisted that she just call him Eben, as that was how his friends referred to him. "Only my father and the police call me Ebenezer." he said in a slightly deep, husky voice that, despite his age, seemed already filled with the lifetime expieriences of a man of forty.

At lunch, the two got better aquainted. Eben, as it turns out, was from a very prosperous farming family right there in the town. Eben was actually 24 years of age, and the family fortune was already his, but he decided to further his education in the agricultural field.

Sarah had already decided that she liked this man, his good looks, personality, and his wit. Time would tell, however if that would last.

In the weeks that followed, however, it seemed like a dream come true! Eben developed a deep friendship with the young woman.  
He would take her out to dinner at the local resteraunt, and they would discuss classes, family, and their dreams for the future.

It finally happened during their third week of dining out together. After walking her back to Sarah's dorm, and saying their goodnights, Eben leaned his slightly muscular body foreward, and kissed her softly on the lips! Sarah had been waiting for this moment, and passionately returned the act of affection. Their tongues entwined, as Sarah embraced the young, tall farm heir's manly frame in her eager arms.

As the next couple of years passed, and the two had graduated near the top of their class. It was good enough for what they'd wanted to do with their futures, which already seemed to be projected directly in front of them.

There came a brief courtship, before the inevitable day when Eben arrived at the boarding house Sarah was staying at, in his buggy. After he had come into her room, they had talked for a short bit, before Eben suddenly announced "Sarah, I've been wanting to ask you this from the moment we shared that first lovely kiss." He then dropped to one knee and produced a small box from his faded brown trouser pocket. Tears welled up in Sarah's eyes, as she knew what was coming, she still wanted to be surprised, however.

Eben, somewhat hesitantly, opened the box, revealing a shimmering 24-Karat gold ring with an absolutely stunning glistening transparent diamond atop it. "Sarah Godard, will you marry me?" Eben asked timidly, a blush of embarrasment crimsoning his face.

The tears of joy were now pouring down Sarah's face! "Yes, Eben! Of course I'll marry you!" she shouted elatedly as she threw her arms around the dapper young man.

Then after that, the announcement, the planning, the church, the vows, then her knight in shining armor whisked her away to his castle - his large abundant farm in the countryside...after that...That's right. Sarah thought grimly to herself, then came the twenty wasted years of trying to bear a child...trying desperately to start a family, which facilitated the visit to the doctor. "...infertility...barren womb...So terribly sorry, Ma'am." Sarah's mind raced through the terrible speech the Physician, a clean shaven, heavily wrinkled man of about sixty-seven had given her, while staring through his biofocals.

As she felt the warm afternoon air against her face, she briefly looked at the completely clear blue sky above her and reflected on the fact that the weather forecast in that morning's paper, which had called for gloomy, overcast skies, had gotten it wrong again. Heck, life had been wrong...unfair...so unfair, she thought, as she began to sob quietly to herself.

Suddenly, from somewhere up above came a faint noise. A sort of high pitched whistling.

Hmm? What could that be? Sarah thought to herself.

The whistling got louder and louder, continuing to slowly drown out the sputtering sound of Sarah's automobile. Then, suddenly,  
a medium sized fireball fell from the Heavens and smashed into the cornfield on her right side in a column of yellow and orange flame!

Sarah immediately slammed on the brakes, nearly skidding off the road! "Goodness gracious!" she shrieked. "Was that a meteor?!"

She exited her car with great haste, and cautiously approached the scene of the crash. By this time, there was acrid black smoke pouring from the location.

There was a large black crater in the cornfield's midst. The thick black vapor continuing to pour from it, yet at the same time, beginning to dissapate.

Sarah inched further and further towards the crater's center. The pungent smell of burning earth now quite evident in her nostrils. The sizzle of frying leather made her step back quickly, however. This ground was obviously too hot to cross right now.

What appeared to be a four foot hatch in the rocket was slightly ajar, and now Sarah could hear what appeared to be a faint cooing from inside. What could that be? An alien?! She thought to herself, as her knees began to become weak with fear.  
Suddenly, the hatch swung open! Sarah immediately turned and bolted back to the safety of her car.

Once inside, Sarah got into a crouch position, hoping whatever was emerging from the craft wouldn't take notice of her. After several minutes, however, it didn't seem as though some beast was approaching her. She carefully poked the top portion of her head above the car's door, and was absolutely shocked at what she saw!

It was an infant. A human infant! It had a slightly olive complection, a patch of raven black hair atop it's head, and was clothed in a very unusual looking dark blue unitard which appeared to have a reflective surface, as if made of glass. The small child manuevered itself out of the rocket's hatch, and dropped to the scorched ground in a crawling position. As the tiny being made it's way across the crater's surface, Sarah wondered to herself in awe, [How is it not burning itself? Has the ground cooled down already?]

As the child reached the dirt road, it propped itself up into a standing position, which seemed unusual, given how young it looked, and toddled over to the Model-T.

Once the young child was next to the vehicle. It grabbed the door and, to Sarah's amazement, crumpled the steel entryway like it was aluminum with it's tiny bare hands! "Gracious!" Sarah hollered at the top of her voice, her eyes wide with shock and fear. The child, oblivious to the woman's terror, stretched it's hands outwards, wanting to be held, as it began babbling enthusiastically. It was obviously very happy.

It was then that Sarah came to a realization. Not only was this infant not of this Earth, but she had also recieved an answer to her prayers! A child!

Sarah cautiously picked up the child and held it close to her chest, praying softly to herself "Thank you, Lord! Thank you!"  
Before suddenly coming to a realization. "Oh, no! What will Eben say?" Things on the farm were hard enough finacially, what with bills, and property taxes being as high as they were, a baby certainly would cost even more money. Her heart sank just as fast as it had risen. Then, she had an idea! The Smallville Orphanage was on the way home, and she could drop the child off there, then go home and tell Eben about what's happened. In the meantime, she would just have to hope that no one else would spot the rocketship nestled in the cornfield crater. Sarah exited the vehicle, cranked the engine, and after the machine roared to life, she entered the car, placed the child delicately in her lap, and motored on her way.

The building was large and palatial in nature. It was about three stories tall, and was stretched about 50 feet in length.  
It was a block-like structure composed mostly of yellow painted concrete. There were two tall pillar-like objects comprised a small part of the building. The top was adorned with a large steel and glass sunroof with a four foot iron spire atop it.  
The back was concealed by a long white picket fence which stretched several feet past the institution in either direction,  
shielding the massive backyard where the orphans played from the outside world.

Sarah, the infant cradled in the crook of her right arm, pushed the front door of the orphanage open with her left hand, and walked up to the receiving desk. A young, fresh faced young lady sat behind it, going through a brief, when she noticed Sarah approaching.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am, and how may I assist you?" She asked with a polite smile.

Sarah drew a short breath, before responding "My name is Sarah Kent. On my way home, I discovered this child abandoned in a cornfield. I was wondering if I could leave it here with you while I try to convince my husband to let us keep it?" she concluded with a hopeful expression.

"Why of course, Ma'am." the young lady replied kindly, before opening a drawer in the polished oak desk, and pulled out a slightly faded white form, saying "Just fill this out, and we'll take care of the rest." before handing it to Sarah with a friendly grin.

Sarah sighed and said "Very well." Before sitting the child next to her and beginning work on the paper with a pencil that was on the desk. When she was finished, she handed the document to the young woman, who went over it, saying "Thank you very much, . We'll take very good care of the child."

"All right." Sarah said resignedly. She then turned to the child, who was staring at her with a cheerful grin, leaned foreward and kissed it on the forehead, saying "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be back for you soon." before walking away, the child already beginning to babble and coo after her. Sarah resisted the urge to run back and embrace the infant, thinking, "Eben,  
please don't be angry with me."

"WHAT?! A baby in a space rocket?!" Eben, now a middle aged man with faded brown hair combed tightly back from his slightly wrinkled forehead, and a short brown goatee, asked in a loud, surprised voice, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"Yes, dear. Then it walked over to the car and compressed the door all by itself!" Sarah explained, her own voice still quite shocked.

"WHAT?!" Eben spit the quick shout out of his mouth like a peiece of tobacco.

"I'm sorry, dear. I couldn't stop it!" Sarah told her husband.

Eben let out a slow, shuddering sigh as he ran his hands down his face, before resting them across his chest. "Alright, where is it now?" he asked, his voice now calm.

"The orphanage." Sarah replied meekly. She then stared at the ground collecting her thoughts. "Eben, could we please adopt it?"  
she finally asked.

"Are you out of your mind?! Have an alien child with destructive powers under our roof! Absolutely not!" Eben said furiously.

Now Sarah's face adopted a look of indignation. "Listen to me, Eben! We have been asking the good Lord for a child for years and years now, and he finally dumps one in our lap! Now, you know that both of us are kind, loving people. If anyone else got ahold of this child, and it displayed it's amazing abilities, they'd probably sell it to the circus, or something worse! Now we are going back to the orphanage, and we ARE going to adopt that CHILD!" Sarah spoke out loudly against her husband, concluding with a defiant shout!

Eben looked at his wife with a newfound respect. This woman could certainly hold her own. A faint smile crossed his lips.  
"Alright, dear. Let me get my hat." He said, his voice now a faint whisper.

As soon as the two entered the orphanage, several people, including the young woman, an older gentleman with a black eye, and a nurse walked up to them. The nurse was holding the child. "Are you the Kents?" the old man inquired.

"Why, yes, we are." Eben said, removing his brown fedora.

The man, the thinning white hair on top of his aged head matching his white Doctor's jacket, cleared his throat and said to himself "Praise the Lord!" Before directly addressing the two "My name is Mulligan, I'm the head physician and administrator of this institution. You must please take this child off of our hands!" He said in a desperate tone in his voice, his hands clasped together in front of him, as if he was praying.

"My goodness, what seems to be the problem?" Sarah asked.

"Well, when I tried to give her an examination, she kicked me in the face and sent me across the examinination room!" Dr.  
Mulligan explained, pointing to the shiner.

"Oh, that's terrible!" Sarah said, before asking "Did you say "she"?"

"Yes, the child is a girl." the Doctor said. He continued. "We had to strap the child down after that. Then when I attempted to give her an innoculation..." let his words hang as he produced a hypodermic needle from his pocket, and held it up for the two to examine.

Upon inspection, the two were shocked to see that the needle was completely bent into an arched shape! "My goodness!" both of them exclaimed at the same time.

"And that's not all, she also managed to break her bonds. Which were quite secure, mind you." defensively stated.  
Not wanting to insinuate that he'd done a poor job.

The Kents looked at the child. She had a large smile on her face, seemingly proud of her achievement.

"Please, I emplore you. Take the child before she causes any further harm here." Dr. Mulligan pleaded.

"We'd be delighted!" Sarah enthusiastically said without hesitation.

The paperwork was eagerly put out in front of the couple and they began filling it out. When it came to the child's name, Eben asked his wife "Well, darling, what shall her name be?"

Sarah pondered this for several moments, before an idea struck her. "How about we name her after our mothers?" She proposed.

"That's a great idea, dear. Since you discovered her, it only makes sense that your mother's name should come first." Eben said warmly.

"Thank you, my sweetheart." Sarah said, kissing her husband on the lips.

Eben smiled, and looked down at the form, writing in the space, "Clarabelle Joan Kent".

Sarah looked down at the child in her arms with tears of joy in her eyes and said "Well, my darling Clarabelle, you have a name and a new life here. I love you."

The newly christened Clara just looked up at her new mother and giggled. She still wondered where her parents were, but these people were very nice too. She was going to like getting to know them.

"It's up here." Sarah pointed to her husband.

Eben pulled up to the blackened piece of Earth and gasped. "My word! You were right, Sarah, she must not be of this Earth!  
Stay here with the baby, I'll get the rocket in the car if I can." he said, opening the crushed remains of the door and walking out to the cornfield and touched the craft with his index finger to test the temperature. It was cool now, safe to move. Eben picked up the smashed in front of craft, and lifted. He only managed to get the side he was lifting on off the ground, and even that took straining to do. "NNNGGH.. Darling! Could you help me move this thing to the car?!" he called to his wife.

Sarah, who was feeding Clara, called back "I'll be right there dear!". When she felt the baby was no longer hungry, she plucked her from her breast and sat her down on the seat. "Now, you stay here, Clarabelle, I have to help Daddy with something." Sarah also exited the vehicle and walked to the crater. She dug her fingers under the other side of the ship and began to pull upward and barely budged the craft.

"RRRGHH! Do you think we can drive away with this thing?" Sarah asked between gritted teeth.

"UNGH! We can try!" Eben replied, straining under the ship's weight.

As the couple tried to waddle to the car with the rocket, the heavy ship suddenly jolted upwards and became practically weightless!

"What in tarnation?!" Eben exclaimed in surprise.

The two looked beneath them to see little Clara dutifully lifting the craft above her head with her tiny hands!

"Criminy!" Eben shouted and jumped back, landing on his behind.

Clara just stared at him, a smile of achievement stuck on her cherubic face.

Sarah beamed, proud of her new daughter's amazing strength. "This way, this way. Over here sweetheart." she said, guiding the young child towards the vehicle, waving both of her palms towards herself. The child obeyed.

Sarah pointed to the back seat of the Model-T. "Here, put it right here, Clarabelle, dear." she said in a soothing voice.

Obediently, little Clara, standing on the tips of her toes, placed the small ship in the back of the car, the vehicle already lowering further to the ground under the tremendous weight!

"Heavens.." Eben said breathlessly.

"Come on, Eben. We've got to get this thing out of here." Sarah said, scooping Clara up in her arms.

Eben nodded without saying a word, and twisted the crank in front of the car and the family entered the vehicle, then they were off. The undercarriage scraping the dirt ground beneath them on account of the extra weight. Thankfully, there were no traffic police to pull them over on their way back home.

Soon, they had gotten back to the farm. After the couple hoisted the craft from the backseat, Clara effortlessly picked it up again.

"She's amazing. Isn't she, Eben?" Sarah sighed with awe in her voice.

"Yes, sweetheart, she's quite a wonder." Eben said appreciatively, before adopting a worried look. "But we've got to hide that rocket. No one must ever know about this."

Sarah nodded her head in agreement.

The two then got out their shovels and dug a decent sized hole in a little under half an hour, then, after Clara had put the rocket down, the couple shoved the craft into the hole, and began to bury it.

Time passed, seasons and years came and went. Clara grew into a cute, healthy young girl with a full head of raven black hair.  
She was an otherwise normal girl, only she couldn't seem to understand why she seemed to be much faster and stronger than the other boys and girls. When she would ask her parents, they would reply "Well, you're just special, sweetheart." or "That's just the way the Lord made you."

One day, when she was five years old, Some neighbor children were playing in a wooded area near the Kent's house. Clara approached them and asked if she could join them. The kids, all boys, belligerently told her "No, stupid! You're a dumb girl!"  
Incensed, Clara spotted a slightly thick, nearby tree, rushed over to it, and pushed it. Even though she hadn't put much pressure on it, it became uprooted from the ground, and fell on most of the boys, pinning them underneath! Ignoring their screams of fear and distress, Clara rocketed home.

Upon reaching her house, Sarah, still in her cooking apron, asked her, "Clara, darling, where have you been?"

Clara joyfully explained with a prideful smile on her lips.

Sarah was livid! "Clarabelle Joan Kent! How could you?! You are never to use your abilities to hurt anyone!" She angrily said, switching Clara's behind with her wooden kitchen spoon. The spoon cracked, and Clara showed no sign that she had been hit. Ignoring this, Sarah went on to say "Just because you're stronger than those boys doesn't mean you can hurt them when they tease you! Do you hear me?! Every human life is precious! Even if they're mean or malicious! Now I want you to go find those boys, lift that tree off of them and apologize! Understand, young lady?!" she shouted.

As Clara went back to the wooded area, she was angry that her mother had yelled at her, but her words had taken effect, and deep within her psyche, she had began to change her view on life.

Then, about a year later, Clara and Eben were in the stable, readying the horses. Clara was standing behind an ornery bronco called Thistle, who didn't like Clara's position. So instictively, he lashed his right rear leg out to kick her. However,  
upon his hoof making contact with Clara's abdomen, the horse whinnied in pain an collapsed to the floor! Eben, who had witnessed the whole thing, examined Thistle and determined that he had broken his leg. He couldn't believe the amazing gifts that this child had!

Shortly after Clara turned thirteen, she began moping around the house, and seemed to lose her appitite. Her parents often asked her what was wrong, but she would tell them it was nothing. Finally, Eben confronted Clara in the living room, and asked "Young lady, just what is the matter with you?"

Clara just looked up at him introspectively and asked faintly "Pa, was I adopted?"

Eben just sighed and put his face in his hands, then said "I think You should sit down while I get your mother, Clarabelle."

Once Sarah had been fetched, the family sat down together with looks of unease on their faces. "Clarabelle, Dear. You asked if you were adopted." Sarah began, before taking a deep and labored breath. She then continued. "The answer is, yes, you are."

"I knew it!" Clara exclaimed. "I have all these powers, and I don't look like either of you! Besides, I've been having these visions of a strange couple in a fantastic enviornment."

"It doesn't matter whether you're our natural child or not. You're still our daughter." Eben said firmly.

"Then why can I do these types of things? Where did I come from?" Clara asked, confused.

"Well, dear, it's not easy to explain, but you fell from the sky in a rocket." Sarah explained.

"What?! You mean I'm an alien?!" Clara exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, dear. I'm sorry." Sarah said, her voice soft with emotion.

"No, Ma, It's okay." Clara admitted. "I'm glad you told me."

Shortly thereafter, the Kent's took Clara out to the area where the rocket was buried, and Clara volunteered to dig it up for them. It only took one scoop of the shovel for her to uncover the craft.

As Clara looked at the rather well preserved silver intersteller ship she had arrived in, she muttered with wonder "I can't believe this! This is incredible!"

Some time later, rain was pouring from the sky by the bucketful. Sarah saw that Clara was staring outside the open, slightly rusted, screen door at the many raindrops slapping against the faded old wooden front porch.

"Don't let that revelation get you down, dear. Your father and I love you very much." Sarah said, attempting to comfort her daughter.

Clara turned around slowly, there were tears in her eyes as she explained "No, Ma, it's not that. It's just.." She said, pausing and looking downwards. "..there's so much suffering in this world." She then wiped the tears from her eyes and said,  
with a slight smile, and much hope evident in her voice. "Ma, I want to use my powers to help other people."

Tears now came to Sarah's eyes, as she kneeled next to her daughter and embraced her. "Oh, my darling Clarabelle!" her voice,  
choked up with emotion, managed to say. "You're such a considerate little thing!"

The years went on and on, Clara's body bloomed, then blossomed! She became a beautiful, full figured 16 year old, with a tall,  
elegant figure that slightly dwarfed her parents, which she held regally. Slightly long, ravishing black hair, healthy looking olive skin, and a pearl white, winning smile.

Sarah wasn't really surprised that Clara had never recieved "The Gift", she was from another planet, after all.

Clara's intellectual faculties had supremely increased as well. She had graduated her Junior High at the top of her class.  
And at Smallville High, her sheer brilliance in all levels of academics led her class and the rest of the school to predict that she was most likely to graduate as the school's Valedictorian.

She had also began to take ballet around this time, to hone her agility. All of the other girls in Clara's dance class were very envious of Clara's natural talent and abilities, as she could leap higher and pirouette more gracefully than anyone else.

It was in her first year that Clara got her first taste of true love. During the first semester, she had noticed a handsome young man that sat in her history class named Norm Baxter. Norm was a tall, well built teen with slightly pale fair skin,  
blonde scruffy hair that resembled a tuft of hay, and blissful green eyes that were full of life. Norm was a reciever for the school's football team, and was a very diligent student. Occasionally, Clara would be involved with Norm in some school studies project, but never really had the courage to open up to him.

That was, until, the day one day at the beginning of Clara's second year. She was leaving her dance class, still in her black leotard, and a towel slung over her shoulder, when she saw a couple of boys, who were known delinquents, cornering Norm in the hallway. One thug, a husky boy with premature stubble, was holding Norm against the wall by his shoulders. Other than the four of them, there was no one else in the hall.

"Listen, Baxter! You'd better fake that broken arm and let Halpurn take over in the second quarter, or Reggie and I are gonna give you one for real!" The hooligan said threateningly. Suspiciously, however, he seemed to be talking in a whisper, although Clara could hear him as though he were practically yelling!

"No!" Norm said defiantly. "I'm only going to do what the Coach asks!"

"Nuts to the Coach!" Reggie, the other thug, a quite muscular young man with a cast iron jaw, and cruel, nearly black eyes,  
and matching curly black hair yelled angrily "You're gonna take that dive, or else!" holding his fist up to Norm's face.

Clara knew that things were about to get ugly. She had to do something, but she didn't want to be recognized. So, thinking quickly, she took the towel and wrapped it around her hair, nose and mouth, and hoped that her crystal blue eyes wouldn't give her away. She then lept into view, boldly announcing "Hold it right there, you scallywags! You won't be harming anyone!"

After an initial surprised stare, both of the bullies burst out into raucous laughter. "I don't believe this! A girl telling us what to do?!" The chubby delinquent said with tears in his eyes, before calming down "Sorry, darling, but we don't have time to play, so why don't you run along?" he continued, finishing with a "shooing" motion with his hand.

Clara rolled her eyes and said carefully "Look, I don't want to hurt you boys. So why don't you just leave him alone?"

Now the ruffians were mad. "Hurt US?!" Reggie asked furiously. "Now you're gonna get it, sweetheart! Let's get her, Marty!"  
Both boys then produced knives from their pockets!

Norm adopted a look of fear on his face. "Look out!" He shouted.

A fuming mad Reggie slashed his knife across Clara's chest, only to have the sturdy steel blade snap clean off! While both boys stared awestruck at the now useless weapon, Clara stared intently at Marty's knife, she was angry at the nerve of these fools attaking her, that and she felt a strange hot sensation on her corneas, it didn't hurt at all, but it got hotter and hotter, until finally a red beam suddenly shot from each eye! It zapped the knife, heating it up very quickly. Marty dropped the knife, grasping his burning hand amidst a stream of profanities.

Norm and Reggie both couldn't believe their eyes! They just stared silently, their mouths agape with shock!

Then, Clara effortlessly lifted Reggie and Marty over her head by their throats, saying in a mock scolding tone "My, my, you boys shouldn't bring such dangerous weapons to school! I'm going to have to take you to the Principal's Office!" Then, she very lightly clashed their heads together, knocking them out cold. Then, at super speed, she zoomed off towards the Pricipal's Office, becoming a black and white blur, shooting down the hall!

Norm, still in shock quickly regained his voice, calling out "Wait!" But it was too late, she had already vanished. For several minutes, he just stood there in awe, before saying "Wow! What a gal!"

Later, at the end of the day, Clara's history class had just let out. Clara was retrieving her books from her locker, when suddenly, Norm approached her!

"Hi, Clara!" Norm said cheerfully, his green eyes glittering.

"Oh, hello, Norman." Clara responded nervously, her face reddening with a blush.

Norm turned his attention to the floor, he seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.  
Finally, he cleared his throat and looked back up, saying "Um, Clara, would you like to spend some time with me down at the park, sometime? Rowing a boat in the river, or just taking a walk?"

Clara's heart began fluttering like a hummingbird's wings! Her breath became short, and her palms began perspiring. Norm had never been this social towards her! Could it be that he realized it had been she who had rescued him?

"Umm, of course, Norman. That sounds like fun!" Clara said, her pulse quickening.

"Great, it's a date!" Norm said happily, he leaned foreward, gave Clara a quick smooch on the cheek and jauntily went on his way.

Clara just stood there, a happy, wide grin frozen on her face. Finally, Clara retrieved her things from her locker, walked outside, then waited until no one was watching, then she let out a joyful squeal and shot off faster than the speed of light towards her home, the dirt on the road kicking up like a like a long dusty tail behind her.

Once she reached her parent's house, she dug her heels into the ground to stop herself, this caused so much friction that by the time she stopped, there was a small pile of dirt in front of her!

The Kents were sitting on a creaky old wooden swing that creaked with each time it's rusted chains moved foreward. The couple were old and grey now. With thinning hair, wrinkles, and biofocals.

"Ma! Pa! Guess what?! I rescued a boy from two bullies at school today!" Clara said ecstatically.

"Heavens, Clarabelle! You didn't use your powers in public, did you?!" Eben asked wide-eyed beginning to rise from his seat.

"Y-Yes, Pa, I did. But I had to do it to protect him! Besides, I had my face covered!" Clara spoke up defensively.

Eben sat back down and put his wrinkled face in his old crinkled, bony hands. "Oh, Clarabelle, what are we going to do with you?" he said wearily.

"But that's not the best part, Pa! At the end of the day, Norman, the boy I rescued, kissed me! My first kiss!" Clara said,  
happily jumping up and down, the pile of dirt seemed to jump with her.

As Eben continued to cradle his head, Sarah, her greying hair pulled back in a bun, clapped as enthusiastically as her aching joints would let them. "That's wonderful, dear! I'm so happy for you!"

"I know, Ma! I'm so happy! I finally have a boyfriend!" Clara said elatedly, and jumped high for joy!

However, after a few seconds, Clara noticed something, her feet still hadn't touched the ground! She looked down, and saw the house, and her astonished parents gaping up at her from about thirty feet below! Clara couldn't believe it, she was floating!  
"MA! PA! LOOk AT ME! I CAN FLOAT!" Clara screamed ecstatically at the top of her lungs!

"Clarabelle! Good Heavens! Get down here at once, young lady!" Eben said in a terrified voice. Sarah just held her hands fast to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock!

Clara was not about to give up this incredible experience, however! "One moment, Pa! I've just got to try something!" she called back. Clara then extended her right arm foreward and cocking her left arm back,doing the same for her legs. She then began soaring through the air, picking up more and more speed as she went along, her pitch black long hair and light purple skirt fluttering in the wind!

As the Kents watched in shock as their daughter boldly defied the laws of gravity, Eben once again called out to his daughter "Clarabelle! I said come down this instant, young lady!"

With a regretful sigh, Clara obeyed her father and slowly and carefully floated as gracefully as a feather back down to the ground, keeping her long, fluffy purple skirt down with her hands to conceal her undergarments. Upon her black leather shoes making contact with the ground, she threw her arms up triumph, and announced proudly "Tah-Dah!"

However, Eben was quite livid! "Clarabelle Joan Kent, you are never to use those abilities in public ever again!" he said with a furrowed brow, before rising from his seat and angrily throwing open the screen door, going inside the house in a huff.

"But Pa!" Clara objected. It was then that she felt the warm brittle hand of her mother on her arm. Clara looked at the old woman.

"Don't worry, dear, he'll come around." She said with a warm smile.

Clara nodded and smiled back.

The days, the weeks, and the months continued to go past. Clara and Norm began dating, and developed a very steady relationship. However, Clara chose to obey her father's warning, and did not display any of her amazing powers to him. Norm also didn't let on whether or not he believed Clara to have been the one who had rescued him. All in all, they were quite content.

As her time in High School progressed, Clara's academic abilties contined to impress her teachers and fellow classmates, as easily mastered all of her subjects. She even took a job as a reporter for the school's newspaper. It was a decision that would shape the course of her life.

Finally, it all came to a head, as graduation neared, it was announced that Clara was indeed to be the class' Valedictorian!  
Clara was thrilled, and she and Norm celebrated with a romantic ride out on the lake where another passionate kiss was shared.

As Clara embraced Norm, she thought how wonderful it would be to spend the rest of her life with this wonderful boy... Life was so good!

The day came, when Clara, now 18, donned her coal black robe and motorboard with it's happy little yellow tassle hanging from it.

It was one of the few times that Clara's parents actually drove her to school, congratulating her all the way.

As the parents filed into the heavily crowded auditorium, Clara sat onstage with Norm, their hands interlinked, "Wish me luck Norman!" She said to him tenderly.

"Good luck, Valedictorian Clara!" Norm said happily, giving Clara a quick peck on the lips.

One by one, the students names were called, and their diplomas were given out.

When Clara's name and title were announced, the entire crowd rose to their feet, giving her a standing ovation! Clara waved and smiled appreciatively as she stepped up to the podium, was given her diploma and medal. Flashbulbs from the local press went off at a steady volley as Clara prepared to give her speech, when suddenly her enhanced hearing caught the familiar sound of Norm whispering to someone, and a girl giggling. Clara squinted her eyes at the stone wall where Norm had disappeared to. Her X-ray vision kicked in, only to reveal the horrible sight of Norm enthusiastically kissing Rebecca Woolworth, one of her classmates, a quite beautiful girl with long brown hair and a black freckle under her mouth, on the lips! Their hands eagerly massaging each other's backs!

Tears of betrayal and rage came to Clara's eyes "Excuse me!" She exclaimed to the crowd, before dashing from the stage. Rushing right past the entwined lovers.

The Principal, an elderly, easygoing man with large glasses approached the podium in an embarrased fashion. "I apologize ladies and gentlemen, our Valedictorian appears to have been overcome with emotion. Could happen to anyone given such a high honor. Now if you'll excuse her sudden departure, there are refreshments on the far table..."

As Clara sat angrily in the stall in the women's lavatory, she was mulling over the thoughts in her head. She was angry that Norm had cheated on her, and yes, she had desired to hurt, even kill both of them. She knew that she had the power to do it.  
However, she knew she had done the right thing by simply walking away. The cloud of gloom began to slowly wafte away from above her head if she wondered if it was too late to go out and apologize to the crowd and actually deliver her acceptance speech, when suddenly, Abigail Guthswaite, a girl whom was friends with Clara, burst into the restroom, calling out urgently.  
"Clara! Clara! Are you in here?!"

Clara emerged from the stall, her tears wiped away, and a smile on her face "Yes, Abigail, what is it?" She asked curiously.

"You must come quickly!" Abigail said in desperation, her face pale as the winter snow. "Your father's had a stroke!"

"PA!" Clara exclaimed in horror, she quickly hurried after her friend.

Clara and Sarah sat despondent by her unconcious father's hospital bed. As Sarah slept soundly in her chair, questions raced through Clara's head at a frantic pace. Why wasn't I there? Could I have saved him? Will he be alright?

Then, Eben began to stir! Clara quickly tapped her mother on the shoulder. "Ma! Ma! Pa's waking up! Get the Doctor!"

After the Physician examined Eben, he said that it looked like he would be okay, but he would have to take things easy from now on. He then let the family spend some time alone together.

Eben struggled to speak just a little above a whisper, Clara had to adjust her super hearing to listen to him. "Clarabelle,  
dear, I'm sorry for all the things I said about you in the past...Y-You can use your powers in p-public if you'd like. B-But you must be c-careful to only use them when they are n-needed."

Clara's face lit up with happiness "Yes, Pa! I promise! I will!" She said elatedly, before cautioning him "Now, you just get some sleep now, and take things easy like the Doctor said. Alright?"

"Y-Yes, of course, dear. I l-love you, my little a-angel." Eben whispered.

Clara's eyes began to tear up with joy. "And I love you too, daddy. Goodnight." Clara said. She and Sarah finished saying their goodbyes and get well's and then walked out the door.

That night, as Eben slept, he suffered another stroke, and breathed his last...

At the funeral, Clara, wearing a long black dress, was inconsolable. Between her gasping sobs, she remarked about how it wasn't fair, about how her father was getting better.

The Pastor went through his rehearsed routine, "The Lord is my Shepherd...Ashes to Ashes..." But Clara was too depressed to listen. Eben was laid to rest in the family plot, and then Clara and her mother returned home for the wake.

The next year, as Clara conferred with her mother about University options, the stock market crashed! The Kent's farming industry, which had put about half of it's finances there, was completely gone! Sarah couldn't believe the terrible misfortune she was having. She could now only send Clara to a small community college just outside of town. Clara didn't seem to mind,  
however. She said, "Don't worry, Ma. I can still get a proper education there. Besides, it'll help me for what I want to be,  
a journalist." But Clara had a reason for choosing this vocation. She had already made up her mind that she would become a crimefighter! And a journalist position would be a perfect way to stay on top of all the crime and injustice wherever she was!

After Clara left for college, Sarah, now all alone, had to begin employing cheap labor around the farm to keep things moving,  
as Clara had used to do most of the tilling and reaping herself, with ease.

Meanwhile, Clara was lodging at Tynsdale Community College, where she dilligently studied as hard as she could each day, once again rising to the top of the school! She focused mainly on her course in journalisim, however, she also began taking accent removal classes to remove her slight southern drawl, as she felt it would come in handy someday.

As her graduation neared, Clara knew someting was wrong when her mother sent word that she wouldn't be able to make it, as she wasn't feeling well.

Then, a week later, with just three days of school left, a telegram appeared from the family attorney that Sarah had passed away, and that she was required home for the funeral...

On the train ride home, Clara silently sobbed to herself and wondered why every time she was about to accomplish something,  
something terrible would happen...

The funeral was somber and sad, the same things seemed to be said, the same "So terribly sorry, dear...If there's anything we can do..." from extended family and neighbors. It was then that Clara thought to herself that her mother hadn't died of "Natural Causes" as the telegram had said, but of loneliness. Her father was gone, and she was off at College. The thought that her mother had died all alone with no one to care for her, saddened her even further.

The meeting with the family lawyer didn't cheer her up any. According to him, because of the ongoing depression, the farm and house were now hundreds of dollars in debt, and the only way out of the finacial burden that had been placed on Clara's shoulders, was to sell them both to the bank.

With a heavy sigh, Clara agreed, and filled out the necessary paperwork. She then had to hop on the train the next day to return to the College for her graduation. It was far from a happy occasion.

After graduating, Clara said a bitter farewell to her aquaintances, and took a train back to Smallville to clean out the house.  
As she emptied out her parents closet into a drab brown cardboard box, she discovered something strange, a small, blue, somewhat reflectant unitard! "W-What in Creation is this thing?" Clara said to herself, confused, then it hit her! "Yes...  
Yes! This must be the oufit I was wearing when I arrived on this planet..." Her thoughts then turned to her parents, and she,  
full of grief and rage attempted to tear the outfit apart! However, no matter how much of her super strength was applied to the clothing, it just wouldn't rip! Clara, confused, tried a different approach, she used her heat vision on the unitard to burn it! However, upon the heat beams emitting from her eyes making contact with the material, instead of bursting into flames, to Clara's astonishment, the clothing began to expand!

Finally, the outfit seemed to be as long as Clara's body was! Intrigued, Clara stripped and tried the outfit on. To her amazement, it fit like a glove! Clara tried a few of her old dance routines, surprisingly, the material wasn't too tight,  
although it did show off her ample assets a little too much for Clara's tastes, in fact so much so, that it seemed like a second skin! "I can't believe this! It's a perfect fit!" Clara rejoiced with a smile!

It was then that she came to a realization. "Wait a moment! This could be my crime fighting outfit!" she said, before thinking to herself, [Hmm, but I'll need a few extra accesories. Plus, I'll need a disguise to wear, so I won't be recognized as the heroine.]

After dressing, and taking a quick trip down to the store, Clara returned and added to the outfit, red swimming briefs with a turquoise belt and a gold buckle, and red boots. Then, Clara had another idea, she went out in front of the barn and effortlessly dug up the rocket she had arrived in, and stripped off the velvet-like material in the interior, buiried it once more, returned to the house, and applied the lining to the neckline of the outfit with the best adhesive she could find,  
forming an elegant looking cape!

But now Clara felt the uniform needed one more finshing touch...an identification symbol, one the nation could recognize.  
She then had a glorious inspiration! She thought of her time in the university, her professor in theology talking about the concept of hightened beings "Supermen" and "Superwomen" Yes! That was it! "Superwoman!" Then, using the skills taught to her in art class, she painted a medium, inverted black shield-like triangle in the middle of the outfit's chest. She then outlined the shield in yellow, then, after the black had dried, she applied a large red "S" on top of it.

Clara once again disrobed and donned the outfit once more. Looking in front of the full length mirror she furrowed her brows, placed her hands on her hips, and boldly thrust her chest out! Her large bosoms stuck out of the material, the tight six pack of her abdomen, her rather large, meaty biceps,and her firm, tightly toned thighs quite evident. "Yes! I truly look like a heroine!" Clara said confidently "I know that I'm able to do anything!"

After putting some clothing on over the outfit, a white dress shirt, a lime green necktie, a candy pink long hemmed skirt with a matching jacket, and flat, black leather shoes, she was satisfied that they completely concealed her costume. Now came the disguise. She decided to disguise her civilian identity rather than her heroine one, since she felt that a heroine needed to be more open to the public.

Remembering her ballet days, Clara did her hair up in a tight, yet somewhat fat bun behind her head, and some large, round, black framed, reading glasses that her mother had been perscribed several years ago. Given her super vision, however, Clara was able to see completely through them at all times! "Wow!" she exclaimed in surprise "I look like a completely different person!" After trying different poses in the mirror, to relieve tension, she made a face at herself.

It was at that time that Clara decided to give the city of Manhattan a try, as it seemed like a lot of newspaper buisiness happened there.

After withdrawing the rest of her money from the bank, saying her goodbyes to her neighbors and relations, Clara boarded a train at Smallville station, her two suitcases in hand, thinking to herself as she took her seat, [I can't believe it! I'm actually going to begin my career fighting for truth and justice! Look out New York, here I come!] 


	3. A Goddess Emerges

Chapter 3: A Goddess Emerges

The golden appearance of the rising sun cast a large beam of light that glimmered on the glass windows of the modern concrete towers and structures that seemed to harken back to the Elizabethan era.

In the bustling streets of the island city of Manhattan, New York, a shining black Ford Model-A Taxi made it's way throughout the somewhat crowded avenues of the bustling Big Apple.

"Hey, toots! Cut yer peepers over dere! Dere's da Empire Sate Buildin' over dere in NYC!" The cabbie, a rather thin and bony young man with scruffy, unkempt blonde hair pointed out the windows on his left side.

Clara, in the backseat, a brand new fancy little green hat with a cute red ribbon on it atop her head, looked out the window over the ocean, and was able to get a view of the top and spire of the massive building, which towered far above the others.

"Betcha they ain't got one of dem in Kansas, sweetie, huh?" The cab driver said flirtatiously, turning back to Clara with a wink. When he should have been watching the road.

Clara just shrugged off the advance, and said plainly "No, they certainly don't." Clara had decided to keep her slightly high southern accent for her civilian identity, and to lose it and deepen her tone for when she needed to spring into action, to make it difficult for people to discern that both alter-egos were one and the same.

The taxi continued for some distance before stopping in front of some dingy, dirt covered apartments. "You sure you want me to drop you off here, toots? I wouldn't go in there without a loaded gun." the cabbie said cautiously.

"That's alright, I don't need one." Clara said, before paying the fare, taking her bags, and exiting the cab. As the vehicle sped off. Clara took another look at the filthy abode, then walked towards the manager's office.

The overweight, grey, curly haired, mustachioed manager was still on the phone, smoking a cigarette, as Clara entered. After saying a few more sleazy aimiablities to the presumably female contact on the line, he very roughly hung the reciever on it's cradle, before turning to face her. "What?!" he said aggresively.

Clara pretended to flinch. "Uh, I would like a room, please." she said, feigning nervousness. She knew that she could send this man through the rotting floorboards effortlessly, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do.

The manager just grunted and said angrily "Cost is 45 bucks a day. Take it or get out!"

"Uh, I'll take it!" Clara said in a falsely frightened voice. She just hoped that she got a job at the Star, or her funds were going to run out soon.

Upon entering her room, the first thing that Clara noticed was the pungent scent of mold and rotting wood. As she opened the cracked and splintered wooden window shutters, light streamed into the room, scattering an entire nest of black cockroaches off of the bare, flat mattress that lay crumpled on the floor. "Home, sweet home." Clara said to herself with a sigh, as she placed her bags down.

The Daily Star building was a tall, glistening, white affair that stood out amongst the other buildings, like an albino animal.

In the Chief Editor George Taylor's somewhat regal office, with pristine filing cabinets and a desk and floor were completely clean and uncluttered. Taylor, a shrewd and stern looking, well dressed man with short black hair that was slicked smoothly back. "I'm sorry, Ms. Kent, but although your amateur record is good, we simply have nothing for you."

"B-But, Mr. Taylor.." Clara began to protest.

"I said we have nothing, miss." Taylor rudely interrupted. "Now get out of here before I have you thrown out on your ear!"

Clara left the building in a huff. Fine! If they didn't need her there, she'd have to look elsewhere. Suddenly, there came the shrill prepubescent shriek of a newsboy peddling his wares. "EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! PLANET REPORTERS DENIED SPECIAL PRIVELAGES, RESIGN IN PROTEST! READ ALL ABOUT IT!"

Clara hurried up to the boy, a somewhat husky lad about twelve, and asked softly, as if she were his older sister "'Excuse me, son, but how much for that capy of the Star?"

"Five Cents, Miss." The youth said flatly and buisiness like.

"Here you are, son, keep the change." Clara said, handing a whole dime to the boy, lightly tossling his fuzzy mane of hair and taking the paper from his hands.

"Wow! Thanks, lady!" The boy said gratefully.

"No problem. And one more thing." Clara said.

"Yeah?" The boy said hopefully.

Clara then smiled and said in a sugary sweet voice "Tell Taylor he's got a face and attitude only a mother could love. A mother buzzard, that is!" to the boy's shock, as she turned from him, raised her arm and shouted "Taxi!"

Clara hastily entered the apartment manager's office, and approached the desk with a scowl on her face. The slovenly manager was sitting behind the desk reading a newspaper, when he looked up to see Clara's stern expression staring back at him. "What?" He rudely asked.

"I would like my money back. I'm leaving this place." Clara said with the irritation of a female shopper returning a product at the store.

"No refunds, darlin'." The manager oafishly grunted, scratching the front of his sweat-stained undershirt. "Now get lost." He wrote her off, his eyes drifting back to the sports section.

Not one to be intimidated, Clara reached across the desk at tapped her well manicured nails on the cash register. "Say, how old is this machine?" She asked curiously.

"It's brand new. Now hands off!" The manager growled.

With a chipper smile, Clara sank her fingers into the register, the polished steel squeaked and groaned as it yielded to her touch, immediately, the top of the solid machine took the appearence of crumpled paper. "Hmm, they don't make them like they used to, I suppose." Clara said in a casual voice.

The manager, his eyes as wide as saucers, was fighting the urge to keel over from cardiac arrest, as he forced open the broken register, retrieved the forty five dollars and handed them to Clara. "H-Here, M-Ma'am." He stuttered.

"Thank you!" Clara said politely with a friendly smile as she gently took the money from the man's quivering hand, placed it into her purse, picked up her bags, turned on her heel, and walked swiftly out the door. The manager still staring in awe after her.

The city of Metropolis certainly lived up to it's name. It's numerous skyskrapers of concrete, steel and glass mostly consumed the horizon. It's streets, thoroughfares and filled with automobiles. Sidewalks full of pedestrians on their way to their various vocations, vendors hocking their wares, and the homeless and jobless, waiting patiently in bread lines, just trying to survive another day. A billboard featuring a Norman Rockwell-type painting of a thin, friendly looking middle-aged man with white hair and a bald top. He was wearing a grey suit and a smile on his face. Beside him, against a sunny yellow background was in blue letters, the words "Wilbur Saint, WBGH. Metropolis' radio king."

Clara's cab stopped outside a rather nice and clean looking apartment complex. As she paid the cabbie and exited, she marveled at how nice and sturdy looking this place looked compared to the other one.

She entered the manager's office, and was pleasently surprised to see how clean it was. Sunlight gleaming in from the windows glimmered off of the seemingly recently scrubbed floor. The front desk was completely clean and uncluttered. And the young blonde woman sitting behind it was dressed in a spotless, form fitting black dress, and had a happy smile on her face.  
"Hello, may I help you?" she kindly asked.

"Yes, I'd like to know how much a rented room will cost." Clara said, still a little uncertain.

"Certainly!" The manager spoke up in a cheerful voice. "Our rates are twenty five Dollars a week."

Clara's mouth nearly dropped open in surprise! "Are you serious?" She asked astonishedly.

"Why yes!" The manager explained. "We have to accomodate the victims in this time of a depression."

Clara just smiled warmly and said "Thank you very much! I'll take one!"

"You're welcome, Ma'am. I'll lead you up to your apartment." The manager said in a warm voice, before turning her attention to Clara's luggage. "Ma'am, would you like a hand with those? They look very heavy." She asked in a concerned voice.

"No thanks." Clara said assertively. "I can handle them."

The door to the apartment opened, and Clara couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her was a clean, spacious room that smelled of lavender, with a comfortable looking bed that was adorned with baby blue sheets, gaily bright pink window curtains, a clean and fresh smelling lavatory, and a dustless, fragrent, closet. Clara didn't even need to take a second look around. She turned to the manager with a bright smile on her face, and proudly said "I'll take it!"

The Daily Planet building was hard to miss. It was an elegantly erect grey concrete skyscraper that stood elegantly between an accounting firm and a law practice. Crowning the peak of the building a large solid gold replica of the planet Saturn with "Daily Planet" in golden letters a couple of floors below it, between where the narrow top floors differed from the wider, lower ones. As Clara stood in front of the elegantly poised tower, she was in awe! She, a once unknown farm girl from Kansas was about to be a part of a big city! If they would give her a job that is.

The atmosphere inside the building was a deafening and choking ordeal, what with the sounds of phones shrilly ringing, promising the next possible scoop, reporters shouting at each other and their contacts, and the thick tobacco vapor that permiated the air was foul to Clara's nostrils, but due to her heightened Kryptonian motabilism, she did not cough. She had had to put up with this very same situation at The Star, so she was surprisingly used to it by now. She also knew what to expect next. As she waded through the chattering chorus of men in their sweat stained shirt sleeves, she would repeatedly ask the question, trying desperately to raise her voice above the throng of noise "Excuse me, could you tell me what floor the Chief Editor is on? I have a meeting with him!". This was met with derisive shouts of "Get lost, sugar!" "Get outta here!" and "Shaddap! I'm busy".

Ultimately, Clara managed to find Chief Editor Perry White's office, a middle sized office near the Planet's top floor. The office was somewhat darkened, illuminated by a single large window to Clara's left. The office was somewhat a mess, not at all like Taylor's, file cabinet's were half opened, papers littered the Chief's desk. The whole room stank of old perspiration, and even older tobacco. White, an overweight, world weary man with light brown hair that was just beginning to thin, was dressed in a white shirt with a dark brown vest, his dark blue tie was undone, and the very top of his shirt was unbuttoned.  
"Ah, you must be Ms. Kent. Come in, and sit down." His deep voice uttered in a flat, bored tone.

Clara didn't utter a word. She merely nervously shuffled across the heavily stained wood paneled floor, and took the small, unpadded and unstable looking mahogony chair opposite White's side of the desk, her well manicured, unpainted fingernails rythmically tapping the twine binded, cardboard folder in her hands that held her amateur work history.

"That your resume?" White asked, pointing to the item in Clara's hands. She meekly nodded. "Let's have it." He said, making a "give it" motion with his right hand. Clara obliged, and reached over the desk, handing the folder to White. Perry relaxed in a leather padded chair that Clara had to admit to herself that she was envious of, and took a cigar from his oak wood cigar box, put a match to it, and lit it, puffing absentmindedly as his eyes skimmed through the papers. Finally, after blowing a lungful of smoke into the air, he cast an uncertain glare upon Clara, and said, in a straightforeward voice "Look, Ms. Kent,  
I'm going to be honest with you. You're amateur track record's pretty impressive, but you've never done any professional reporting work. We're Metropolis' Number 1 news outlet, and we intend to keep it that way."

"Yes, Mr. White." Clara said resignedly.

"So, I'll tell you what." White began in a bargaining tone. "I'm going to give you a probationary position on the staff, but if, in the meantime, you're able to put an absolutely, and I mean absolutely, dynamite story on my desk, you've got a job as a reporter!"

Clara's bright blue eyes lit up with excitement! This could be her break! She stood up from her uncomfortable chair, and said "Thank you, Mr. White. I'll get to work right away!" before strutting out of the office with a slight smirk on her face, thinking, [Just wait until trouble runs amuck, then Mr. White'll get a dynamite story that he'll never forget!]

Clara sat at a small table by herself, as the sounds of typewriters near her clacked away with their irritating, repetitive morse. Clara stared sadly at the blank piece of paper in front of her. She wished she could think of something that would make a good story, but nothing had happened on her cab ride over to the Planet, or even to Metropolis. She just hoped for a story, and soon. Suddenly, a cup of steaming hot coffee was delicately placed beside her. Clara suddenly looked up with a start to see a pretty young teenager with light red hair pulled back in a ponytail, freckles covering her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, wearing a spotless white cotton blouse with a happy pink ribbon on the collar, and a dark green skirt that reached her calves. Her light green eyes were filled with kindness.

"I thought that you might need this." The girl said with a pearly white smile.

"Thanks." Clara said gratefully, before asking curiously "Say, who are you? If you don't mind my asking."

"Of course not. My name's Jenny Olsen, I'm a copy girl here at the Planet." The girl said in a sugary sweet voice.

"Nice to meet you, Jenny, I'm Clara Kent. I just started working today. Although I'm not sure how long that'll last." Clara said with a sigh.

"I'm sure that you'll be great here, Clara! Don't give up!" Jenny said encouragingly.

"Thanks, Jenny. That helped me a lot!" Clara said, a smile returning to her face.

"Don't mention it, Clara! Well, I've got to be going. See you!" Jenny said with another grin and a wave. Then she was off.

"Well, that's at least one friend." Clara said to herself, as she turned back to the blank piece of paper in her typewriter.

Suddenly, a worker with a blue vest and a visor on, ran into the room, yelling "Everyone, turn on the radio! Gunmen just took over the Mayor's office!" in a terrified voice.

A small radio was quickly placed on one of the desks, and the crowd gathered around. The device was turned on, and the male announcer was already speaking in a rapid fire tone "...motive is reported to be the release of several members of a powerful gangster group from Metropolis State Prison. It is reported that Mayor Fitzgerald has not been harmed, but it's hard to say for sure. Police and the National Guard are hesitant to move in, because the suspects who have barricaded themselves in with His Honor, are heavily armed."

Clara's visage immediately changed to one of righteous indignation. She decided that now was the time to reveal herself! With considerable stealth, she snuck away from the huddle around the radio, and made her way to one of the stock rooms in a darkened section of the building which was far out of sight of the men. Clara immediately whipped off her glasses, and undid the bun on her head, and shook her hair down. Opening the door, Clara said quietly to herself "This looks like a job.." before rushing inside, and closing the door behind her. Switching the light on, She threw down her hat, kicked off her shoes, and shed her jacket and shirt. She then unbuttoned her skirt and stepped out of it. Now fully revealed in her costume, Clara opened the door and boldly walked out unobserved, saying softly, yet confidently, in an unaccented, deeper and stronger voice "...for Superwoman!" Her large "S" emblem proudly displayed on her ample chest, her powerful muscles bulging under the tight blue material, her blood red cape flowing gently behind her. Superwoman then eased the nearest window open, stepped out on to the ledge, and lept out into the sky with a mighty bound, taking flight!

In the sky, Superwoman soared above the city, various onlookers took notice. "What is that?" One dumbfounded male pedestrian called to other people's attention.

"I don't know, but it looks like a person!" An alerted female answered.

"That's ridiculous! A flying person?!" The man balked.

Superwoman utilized her super vision to see ahead of her to spot City Hall. Several blocks ahead, there was a large, white, regal looking building, it's front supported by tall, thick, white columns. On the building's northern face was written "City Hall". It was surrounded by police cars and National Guard trucks, with both officers and Guardsmen outside of their vehicles in crouched positions, aiming their rifles and Tommy Guns at the building.

Superwoman was unnoticed as she landed on the southern edge of the building's roof. She immediately peered down, and used her super hearing to locate the criminals and the mayor. She could immediately hear a man with a thick accent saying "Listen ta me, Officah! You keep ya men away from us, and get us a getaway cah, so we can take da maya on a little trip. Or else!" in a threating tone. Superwoman then used her X-ray vision to look inside the building, and saw a number of men in black pinstriped suits and fedoras carrying Tommy Guns, walking around the Mayor's office. One was on the phone with the Police, and a couple were standing next to what appeared to be the Mayor, who was a man with slightly rounded features, neatly combed black hair, black rimmed spectacles, an expensive looking brown suit, and a worried expression on his face.

The two men on either side of the Mayor weren't pointing their guns at him, so Superwoman took her chance. She cocked back her fist, and effortlessly punched a large hole right through the marble and cement with her bare fist!

As chunks of the ceiling came crashing down, the gangster on the phone looked up and jumped away at the last minute, shouting in surprise "What th'?!" As he and his comrades aimed their weapons in shock.

Superwoman jumped down the hole an landed right in front of the league of shocked men. She stood with her fists on her hips and her bosom proudly thrust out, with an intimidating glare on her face.

"What? A dame?!" The lead gangster, a quite thin man with a deeply cleft chin and a five o' clock shadow asked in a frenzy.

"Who does she think she is, an acrobat?!" one of the other gangsters, a large, bald, gorrilla-like man asked, indicating to her costume.

"I don't care! Shoot 'er!" The leader shrieked, rasing his gun. The other men followed suit. They all fired their weapons at the same time, creating the sound of a loud motor in a factory, at this, the terrified Mayor ducked for cover under his desk.  
However, the criminals' bullets merely bounced off Superwoman's chest and abdomen without the heroine ever batting an eye!

The crooks immediately stopped firing and stared awestruck at Superwoman with wide eyed, slack jawed looks of disbelief on thier faces, as gunsmoke wafted through the air.

Superwoman with a smirk, took advantage of this and rushed the men. She grabbed their guns all in one snatch, and crunched them all like an aluminum can with one hand, and with the other, grabbed all the thugs by their collars and lifted them off the ground, as if they were lighter than air. She then lept out the hole in the ceiling with the men in her hand, and landed with them right in front of the authorities that were waiting outside. As the Police and Guardsmen marveled at the sight of her, Superwoman took a mighty leap into the air and flew from the scene, her red cape fluttering in the breeze behind her.

The gangsters and authorities continued to stare after her. The Police then turned their attention back to the gangsters, and aimed their weapons, shouting "Don't move! You're under arrest!" The criminals, their faces still frozen in disbelief, slowly raised their hands.

Superwoman reentered the Planet building through the open window, and quietly closed it behind her. She then made her way back into the stock room, and put her civilian clothing back on, put her hair back up, and donned her glasses. She then took a plain pencil and notepad for her alibi, and exited the small room, returning to her small table. Still trying to contain her giddyness over having proved herself as a heroine!

On the radio, the announcer was almost out of breath, spouting off nearly untillegibly "..absolutely incredible! This mysterious flying, costumed woman who saved the Mayor's life had immediately vanished from the scene, but the Mayor is already offering her a commendation!" As Clara took her seat, she modestly ignored the message, and began writing on her pad.

One of the men crowded around the radio, turned to Clara and said in an ecstatic voice "Clara, did you hear what happened in the situation in City Hall?"

"Sorry, I was in the stock room getting a pad and pencil. Since I'm new here, it took me a while to find them." Clara innocently explained.

"Well you won't believe it, but this beautiful costumed woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere, burst through the ceiling, grabbed the gunmen, turned them over to the police, and just flew away!" The man excitedly explained.

"Flew away?" Clara curiously asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't mishear the announcer?"

"No, Clara! We all heard him loud and clear!" The man said defensively. "You can hear for yourself if you don't believe me!"

"Sorry, but I've got to talk to the Chief." Clara said, pointing to her notepad. She then rose from her seat, and walked towards the elevators.

Perry White was busy on the phone speaking a mile a minute. "Yes, I don't know who she was, but we'll get on it and find out." he said, just as Clara walked in to his office. Perry hung up angrily, and shouted in an indignant fashion. "What is it, Kent?!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry to bother you, ." Clara humbly apologized. "But I overheard the exciting story about the standoff outside City Hall, and the mysterious flying woman, and I'd like to volunteer to cover the story." She boldly proposed.

At this, Perry suddenly exploded in disbelief! "WHAT?!" He shouted. "You want me to give a rookie like you such an important assignment?! Give me one good reason why I should!"

Clara, staying completely calm, handed over her notepad and said in an unwavering voice "Here's one, Sir."

White snatched the pad from Clara's hand and looked it over, the angry expression slowly fading from his face. On Clara's pad was a heavily detailed account of the radio announcer's report of the City Hall situation, written like it was a story in an edition of the Planet. Perry's face softened as he looked up at Clara and said with a sigh "I'm sorry, Kent. This is great stuff, really impressive. You can have the story."

Clara smiled and said demurely "Thank you, Mr. White." Before turning, and walking out of the office.

The large Police cordan was still in effect when Clara approached the front of City Hall. She was stopped by a stone faced Police Officer, however, he relented when she showed him her press badge.

An aide led Clara down the majestic halls of the wonderously large building, she finally was led to the Mayor's Office. Clara saw that a white tarp was covering the large hole she had earlier punched in the ceiling and the air still smelled of the faint tang of gunsmoke. Mayor Fitzgerald was sitting at his desk with a warm smile on his face, clearly glad that the ordeal was over. The Mayor rose to greet Clara, extending his hand in a friendly greeting. "Hello, Miss. You must be from the Daily Planet." He said in a jovial voice.

"Yes, Your Honor, I'm Clara Kent." Clara said with some bashful reservation in her voice.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kent. I apologize that my office isn't very tidy at the moment, but I'm sure that you've heard about that already." The Mayor said with a smile. Little did he know that this was the woman who had saved his life about an hour earlier.

"Yes, Your Honor." Clara replied.

"Well, won't you have a seat across from me, and I'll tell you this amazing story." The Mayor said kindly, waving his arm to a very comfortable looking chair that sat opposite him.

"Thank you, Your Honor." Clara accepted graciously as she took the seat. It felt like sitting on a cloud. Clara was so happy to be resting on something smooth and soft for once.

"Now, where do I begin..." The Mayor began, as he eased into the chair behind his grand oak desk.

Clara walked back into the Planet building with a smile on her face, and a twinkle in her eye. She knew that this story was going to take her places. Clara entered the elevator, and took it up to the floor where she worked. Once at her desk, Clara, not even needing to take out her notepad, on account of her super memory, and began rapidly typing down the story on the peice of paper. Her hands becoming a blur as she multi-tasked between both typing the story, and feeding a new piece of paper into the typewriter. Because of the noise of the other typings and shoutings going on in the room, Clara's inhuman activity went completely unnoticed. In a matter of only two seconds, she was finished! Clara then saw Jenny walking past her area, and called her over.

"Yes, Clara?" Jenny asked sweetly.

"Could you run this over to the copy editor for me?" Clara said, handing her the typewritten story.

"Of course, Clara." Jenny replied, and went on her way.

Clara smiled and opened a copy of the Planet that had been placed on her desk, and waited.

The large faded black ferry, it's bottom covered with algae and barnacles docked at the bay in Staten Island. The group of people, dozens of men, women, and children, disembarked and had their clothes tagged by polite, yet very efficient Officers, and were pointed and kindly directed into a long, even, line. Among the hopeful immigrants was a handsome, yet somewhat hard and disciplined looking young man dressed in filthy, ragged cloting, with short dusty blonde hair, blue grey eyes, and just a hint of beard stubble. Two men that seemed to accompany him, also relatively normal looking, were dressed similarly.

As the line progressed down a long, drab hallway, several men in long white coats, physicians, they guessed, went down the long line, occasionally poking and prodding the hopefuls, checking eyes, ears, noses and throats. Occasionally, with a word to each other they would whisk half of the line away, leaving the rest to continue ahead.

The immigrants then made their way to a dizzying series of passages through which they found themselves in a large room with many various tall desks, behind which two Inspectors, one of each looking very educated, dressed in heavily starched collared shirts, and heavy looking jackets, stood. Since the somewhat handsome blonde men and his two ragged friends were near the front of the line, they only had to wait but half an hour, occasionally whispering clandestinely to themselves above the multi-linguistic din, before they approached the men behind the desk.

The rather learned man quickly began asking his language in various tongues, shortly coming upon the German "Deutsch?", he recieved a quick "Ja." and nod of the head from the dusty blonde stranger.

The harder, heavier of the men spat out almost too fast to understand "Name! Last, first, middle!" His leaner friend translated just almost as quickly.

"Steiner, Kurt, kenien mittlewig." Kurt coldly and mechanically responded.

"Says he hasn't got a middle one." the translator quickly told the other Inspector as he jotted the name down in his book.

"Age!" The man quickly shouted to be heard, again the translation.

"Funfundzwanzig." Kurt responded.

"Twenty-five." The translator told the heavy Inspector.

The questions went on and on. Kurt told the men that he was a single factory worker from Frankfurt who had fled to America to escape the Nazi regime and find a new life.

When it came to his destination, Steiner answered, "Metropolis, New York."

Finally, the Inspector handed Steiner a piece of paper with German text written on it "Read this out loud!" He was told in two different languages.

Kurt then looked up at the two men at the desk and, to their surprise, flawlessly asked "Do you want this read in German or English?" in English, with a light German accent!

The Inspectors both bugged their eyes out in surprise. "Why didn't you tell us that you could speak English?!" The heavy inspector angrily shouted.

"Because I thought you meant for me to speak in my native tongue." Kurt responded innocently. "I learned your language as part of my schooling."

The heavy lead Inspector just let out a deep sigh, and said "Just read it!" in an exhausted voice.

Kurt looked at the piece of slightly yellowed paper. It had several ink fingerprints scattered about it, and looked like it had been handled quite a bit. He recognized the clear paragraph displayed on it as a Bible passage. He read it out loud as he was told. "For the mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful are opened agaist me: They have spoken against me with a lying tongue." Kurt smiled at the irony of what he had just read, based on what he had told the Inspectors.

Eventually, Kurt was cleared, and began to walk toward a series of benches, in which dozens of people were sitting, while turning back and saying "Viel Gl ck, wir sehen uns bald." To his waiting friends.

Kurt's two fellow immigrants made it through the inspection equally well, and after being cleared by the Health Department, Kurt and his friends left the building, and approached a sparkling new blue Ford Model-A automobile, that seemed to have suspiciously have been waiting for them. They entered it, and the car sped off down the street.

Clara hesitated outside Perry White's office. She had been slightly uneasy about entering, after she had been called, as she feared that maybe perhaps White wasn't satisfied with the story. However, Clara closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, held her breath for one second, and then exhaled deeply, as if her concerns were wafting out of her nostrils along with the oxygen in her lungs. She opened her eyes, strengthened her resolve, and opened the door.

Perry was standing at his desk, the copy of Clara's story lying in front of him. He noticed the door opening and looked up.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. White?" Clara asked with an uncertain tinge to her voice.

"Yes, Clara. In fact, I want to see a whole lot of you from now on!" Perry beamed with a smile on his face. "This is top notch stuff you've brought me! And in record time, too!" White said, loudly tapping his index finger on the top page.

Clara's face lit up with joy! "Y-You mean?" She asked with joyous surprise.

"You've got it, Clara! You managed to captivate me with this wonderful account of this mysterious flying beauty's rescue of the Mayor! You can forget about the probationary position. I'm giving you a permanant job here! Welcome to the Daily Planet, Kent!" Perry said with a grin, holding out his meaty hand.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, Mr. White!" Clara said enraptured, as she shot out her hand to shake Perry's. However, her reasoning warned her to shake it gently, so that she would not break his hand or pull his arm out of it's socket. So she obeyed it.

"Please, Clara, call me Chief." Perry affectionately said. He then quickly became businesslike again, giving her a hard smile. "Alright, Kent, enough pussy footing around. I'm going to give you a desk next to one of our finest scoopers, fella by the name of Lane, Louis Lane. Real handsome, but also real competitive, so watch out. Now I want you to dig up some dirt on this flying woman and try to catch her in action again, or better yet, try to get a word from her before she zips off again."  
He concluded with much zest, making a "taking off" motion with his hand.

"Yes, Sir, Chief! You can count on me!" Clara said with a smile and a sparkle in her crystal blue eyes. "By the way, what was that whole buisiness about several reporters resigning in protest?" She asked curiously.

"Well, Kent, they all wanted the same salary as me, when they hadn't done anything but sit on their duffs all day. Can you believe that?" Perry said with a grunting laugh.

"I've heard stranger things, Chief!" Clara said, grinning with good humor.

Wilbur Saint, dressed in a dull grey suit and slacks, sat behind a large black marble desk in a luscious office at the top of the tall, drab looking WBGH building, which proclaimed it's identity on a white sign in large, blue, bold letters. On top of the building was a large radio tower, broadcasting the most popular music and news in all of Metropolis. Saint was on the telephone in a casual, cool conversation. "Like I said, a donation isn't necessary. Thank you, Senator, and God Bless America!" He then hung up.

Almost immediately, there was a buzz on his intercom. Saint pressed down the lever and asked "Yes, Samantha?"

"Mister Saint, there are some German street urchins who've somehow got past security and are asking to see you. Should I throw them out?" His secretary asked in a fiesty voice.

"No, no. Samantha, I've been expecting them. Human interest angle, you see. Let them in." Saint said aimiably.

"Yes, sir." Samantha said flatly.

Kurt and his two companions walked in, closing the door behind them. Almost immediately, Kurt's hand sprung up in the "Seig Heil" positon. Wilbur's hand nonchalantly swung upwards to answer it. Both men then lowered their limbs. "Kurt, Ludwig, Diederich! So nice to see that you got here okay." Saint said, walking out from behind his desk, his hand outstreched in a form of greeting, a beaming smile on his face.

The men did not smile as they accepted the handshake. "We appreciate your enthusiasm, Herr Saint." Kurt said unenthusiastically.

"Der Fuhrer told us that you would be a reliable contact." Diederich, a man with lighter blonde hair, and a four inch scar on his left cheek, said with a cold stare in his lime green eyes.

"Hmrrph!" Ludwig, a bulky brown haired man with a slight beard and a wool cap, grimaced and growled to himself.

"Well, fellows, let's get you all cleaned up, and into some nice clothes. Then we'll talk about our "plans" for this week." Saint said with a wicked looking wink of his almond brown eye.

As Clara walked up to the door with "Louis Lane, Reporter" written on the window in big bold lettering, a large box of her belongings cradled under one arm, she could hear a man screaming "No! NO! Absolutely not! I'm not sharing my office with any lousy woman!"

[Don't tell me that this pinhead is my partner!] Clara thought to herself with a sigh. She then opened the door calmly. However, once inside, Clara was surprised to see a very handsome and slim young man with a carefully chisled, clean shaven face, short and well groomed chocolate brown hair, and warm brown eyes. He was dressed in a clean, well fitting, dark blue suit and trousers, a red tie and black dress shoes, sitting on a desk, yelling into the reciever of a telephone that lay next to him. Two men in their shirt sleeves were moving another desk into place on the adjacent side of the quite spacious room, near a large window, from which the sun from outside shown in. A peaceful looking oriental picture hung on the wall between the two desks.

"Listen, Chief, I've had this entire office to myself for as long as I've been here, and it's going to stay that way!" Louis irately shouted into the phone. The men moving the desk trying to ignore him.

As Louis hung up in a huff, Clara rolled her eyes, thinking to herself [Give me a break.]

Louis then turned around to see Clara standing in the doorway. "Well, what are you standing there for?" He asked with a grimace.

Clara thought [This fellow might be rude, but he's certainly handsome! I hope he's not always like this].

"Well?!" Louis asked angrily.

Clara kept herself calm as she answered. "I'm Clara Kent. I'm going to share this office with you."

Louis gave Clara a derisive look and scoffed "Well, Clarybelle, well see how long you last here." as he sat down at his desk and started to go through a folder.

"It's Clarabelle. And just call me Clara." Clara corrected him, some irritation seeping into her voice.

"Sorry about that, Clarybelle." Louis said without looking up.

Clara just stared at him, keeping patient. She then walked over to her desk, a very avereage light brown, freshly polished cedar affair, and began to unpack her things.

As the next few days passed, and Clara was given new assignments, The Planet began to fill up with fascinating headlines, such as "Mysterious Costumed Beauty Smashes Bootlegging Ring" "Caped Crusader Jails Crooked Union Boss" and "Beautiful Wonder Single-Handedly Rebuilds Decaying Tenament Buildings".

Clara had just barely began to get settled into city life, when there came a buzz on her intercom. "Yes?" she answered.

"Mr. White wants to see you." Perry's secratary said.

Clara sighed and said "Another day, another Dollar." As Louis stared after her with jealousy.

Once inside Perry's office again, Perry lit a cigar and after sucking the smoke deep into his lungs. "Here's the deal, Kent. You're hot right now, so I'm giving this story to you." He said quickly and buisiness-like.

"Thank you, Chief!" Clara said appreciatively.

"Okay, now listen up." Perry said authoritatively. "Farmers all across the southern states are having problems, not only with the depression, but with something called the Dust Bowl."

"Dust bowl? What's that, Chief?" Clara asked inquisitively.

"I'll tell you." Perry answered. "Since there's been a large drought around those areas for some time now, all that's left is dust. The wind picks it up and blows it around like crazy. Dust blowing everywhere, ruining crops and houses, and making it just plain hard to see and breathe." He explained, making demonstrative gestures with his cigar.

Clara's face softened. "That sounds just terrible!" She said sadly.

"That's what I like about you, Kent. You've got the heart of a real sentimentalist. That kind of writing sells papers." Perry complimented her, before continuing. "Here's what I want you to do. Go down to the quaint little town of Cimmaron County, Oklahoma, and bring back a good scoop with you."

"Yes, Chief. I sure will!" Clara said, before rising from her seat, and heading out the door.

The dusty plains of the small county of Cimmaron flew past as the taxi Clara was in drove down the dirt covered roads. Clara shook her head softly at the sight of various houses, cars, and buisinesses caked with soil. The car came to a stop outside a small, beige, farmhouse in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. Clara paid her fee, and stepped out. The farmhouse was the usual two-story place where farmers are usually expected to live. As the taxi sped away, Clara walked up to the light, cheap looking, aluminum door, and knocked on it.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" An ornery southern voice called out from the top of the stairs that were visible on the door's screen.

A somewhat middle aged man in a dusty shirt and heavily worn overalls, descended the staircase, and approached the door, and opened it. He stared suspiciously and silently at Clara. He appeared to be chewing tobacco with the same rythym of a cow or a Billy Goat. He grunted with his mouth full, and suspicious squinted eyes, "You from the government?"

"No, sir." Clara said kindly with a smile, yet standing her ground.

"You from the po-lice?" he asked with the same air of suspicion.

"No, Sir." Clara said, a small amount of irritation seeping into her voice. "I'm Clara Kent, a reporter for The Daily Planet, out of Metropolis."

"Oh, a yankee paper." The farmer said derisively. "Well, I'm Fred McGinley, head of this here farm. What would you like to know?"  
He asked as he narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well, I'd like to know how the Dust Bowl had affected your buisiness and livelyhood, sir." Clara asked, the friendly smile returning to her face as she got out her notepad and pencil.

In response, McGinley spat some of the foul, brown, tobacco saliva out of the side of his mouth and said "How d'you think it affected them? Dis here drought done ruined every galdarn crop of mine in sight! It.."

Suddenly, a young boy with a blonde bowl hair cut and suspenders, ran down the stairs screaming "PA! PA! Get in the house! Another one's a comin'!"

Farmer McGinley looked back into the house and shouted "Tyler, get back upstairs!" Before pushing past Clara and looking ahead at the horizon. A large, black cloud of dust that looked like the angry forthcoming clouds of a tornado, was barreling towards the farm at a high rate of speed!

"Listen, Missy, get to safety now 'afore that dust gets ya!" the farmer loudly warned Clara before rushing back inside the house, and shutting the door.

[Hmph! That's rude! He didn't invite me inside!] Clara thought indignantly, before sighing, thinking in her mind [Oh, well. The least I could do is get rid of this storm for them and get this place watered again.] Clara then ran as quick as a flash behind the large barn, removed her glasses, and clothes, and un did her hair, emerging in her Superwoman uniform! Superwoman then walked steadily and fearlessly in front of the large, approaching dust storm.

Inside the house, both father and son McGinley were watching Superwoman walking toward the storm. Tyler asked "Pa, why is that 'dere lady in the funny clothes walkin' towards that there dust cloud?"

"I don't rightly know, son, I think she's plumb crazy!" Fred exclaimed.

Superwoman looked stoically at the giant wall of dust hurtaling towards her. She took a deep breath and, with some strength in her lungs still reserved, let out a mighty burst of air through her pursed lips. An amazing sight then followed. The immense cloud suddenly froze, then was pushed back farther and farther against the horizon until it was no longer visible!

McGinley and son were completely speechless at the sight of this. Their eyes wide with disblieif.

Superwoman then took a mighty leap and was airborne. She streaked across the skies of the southern sky, way down to the coast of Texas in a matter of seconds! Then, to the astonishment of the obervers, Superwoman, who was hovering above the water, suddenly began spinning around in mid-air! The suction caused by Superwoman's spinning formed a funnel effect of the ocean! Superwoman continued to spin as she rose, causing the water cyclone to rise with her, eventually envoloping her! Superwoman then flew across the sky, continuing to spin at a high rate of speed, the water cyclone following her.

As the whirling Superwoman sped across the stratosphere, the water funnel was being relieved of it's salt content, becoming completely pure fresh water, and slowly but surely, large amounts of rain drops emitted from the cyclone, showering down on both the people and the soil, causing the crowds to break out into cheers and whistles!

Superwoman's water funnel made it's way across all the affected states, replenishing their ground with precious water! As she passed over Oklahoma, Tyler McGinley turned to his father and exclaimed with absolute glee " LOOK, PA! IT'S RAINING!" then he noticed something strange. "Pa, it's comin' from that 'dere sideways twister in the sky!" He said, pointing to the strange sight.

Farmer McGinley wasn't about to question this good fortune, and said with unbridled joy "You're right, son! It's a miracle! Praise the Lord!" He then ran out into the front yard, and danced wildly in the sudden shower.

After showering all of the hurting areas, Superwoman made a bee-line back to Oklahoma, and the McGinley's in Cimmaron County.  
Once at the back of the barn, she dressed in her civilian clothing, and walked back towards the rejoicing father and son.

"Excuse me, Sir. I was hiding in the barn. Did I miss anything?" She asked with false bewilderment.

"I should say so, Missy! We've just done had us a miracle! We've just had rain on the farm!" Farmer McGinley said elatedly, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Really? And how did that come about?" Clara asked, feigning surprise.

"Well, Miss. It's hard to explain, but it looks like an angel done saved it." The farmer said, as he looked Heavenward with tears in his eyes.

Perry White chuckled fatly as he looked over the copy for the Oklahoma story that Clara had written. "I'm telling you, Clara, you're something special! You always seem to find this mysterious flying woman." He then lowered his voice clandestinely "Or she always seems to find you. What's the story here, Kent? Are you paying her to appear, or something?"

Clara just smiled gingerly and said with a carefree laugh "Of course not, Chief! Just lucky, that's all."

"Alright, Kent. Just try to at least get a picture of her next time." Perry said dryly.

"Yes, Chief." Clara said nervously, then walked towards the door, saying "Well, better get back to the office." and made a hasty exit.

Outside, Clara sighed deeply and thought [I've got to be more careful. Perry's getting suspicious.]

As Clara walked into the office, Clara heard a derisive snort from Louis' desk, as she turned to face him. he had a smirk frozen on his face. "So, Clarybelle, you must think that since you covered that Dust Bowl story, that you're pretty hot to trot. Well, I've got news for you. Front page news as a matter of fact, since that's where my story was published. Real hot stuff. It would seem that a certain Garret Karlsson, a newsman over at WGBH was involved in a very high profile money laundering scheme. And if my reliable source is correct, this could go all the way up to the head honcho himself, Wilbur Saint!" He concluded with an upward palmed gesture of his hand.

"That nice looking man on the billboards? Do you really think so?" Clara said, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"Clarybelle, you're so naive. You have a lot to learn about people in the city." Louis said with a grimace.

This expression was shared by a very irate Wilbur Saint as he sat reading the front page of the Planet in his office. He then took both top corners of the paper in his hands and slowly and evenly tore it in two. He then stood up from his desk, and angrily cast the peices on the floor. After sitting back down, he reached for the black telephone that sat to his left. He dialed a number onto the rotary. After waiting for two rings, the other line picked up. "Hello, Kurt? This is Wilbur. Have you settled in yet?" He asked aimiably. "Good. Good. Yes, the plan is still on. Right now, though, I've got a problem, though. There's a nosey reporter that I need to have taken care of. How about it?" Saint said in a conversational tone. He just as well could have been schedueling a dentist's appointment. "Thank you, Kurt. I knew I could count on you." He said with a grin. He then slid a piece of paper with some writing on it near to him. "I just so happen to have his car description and license plate number right here."

Louis, a smug look on his face, a notepad and pencil in his jacket pocket, and a camera cradled under his arm, strolled out of the Planet's lobby with Clara trailing behind him. He looked back at her and asked suspiciously. "What do you want, Clarybelle?"

Clara looked back at him innocently "Well, I-I'd just like to give you a hand on your hunch if I could." Clara said, her palms starting to feel moist.

"Sorry, I don't need help." Louis responded, and walked over to his car, a red Lincoln KB, started it up, and then sped away.

Clara walked back towards the Planet building, wondering [Why do I feel like this? Surely it can't be love?] But neither she nor Louis noticed the puddle of brake fluid where his car had been.

As Louis went down a steep hill that led to a busy intersection, he came to a traffic light, which happened to be red. So, he naturally applied his brakes. Only, nothing happened! The car continued to race down the perilous road! Louis panicked and frantically pumped his brakes as other cars coming from the right and left honked their horns and swerved out of the way! Louis beeped his own horn as well, while screaming at the top of his voice "Look out! Look out! No brakes!"

Several blocks away, Clara's super hearing picked up Louis' shout of distress. She spun around and noticed the brake fluid trail leading into the street! "Louis!" Clara exclaimed in shock before furrowing her brows and declaring confidently "This IS a job for Superwoman!" Clara looked about for a discreet place to change, before seeing a deserted alley between the Planet and the lawyer's office. She ducked inside, and after confiriming that she was alone, she removed her glasses, undid her hair bun, and hurridly pulled off her outer clothing, then standing revealed in her costume, Superwoman sprang into the air.

As Louis sped uncontrolled down the street, he drastically looked for anything in the road that could slow him down, or better yet, stop him. Then, he saw that he was headed straight for the Metropolis docks, and soon he would plunge into the Atlantic Ocean! As Louis' car soared off one of the docks and toward the briney blue, his face went white with fear.

It only took a split second for Superwoman to spot Louis' car, and where it was headed! With great skill, the Maiden of Might swooped down from the sky and landed right beneath it's undercarrige and caught it! Lifting the entire vehicle above her head, while hovering just inches above the water Superwoman drifted the car back to solid ground.

Louis couldn't believe it! His car was floating! What next? The Heavenly choir? Saint Peter and the Pearly Gates? Then, suddenly, he was placed back on the pavement! Louis looked immediately to his right, and saw the Woman of Steel in all her statuesque granduer standing beside his car with a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked in a concerned voice.

[It's her! It's really her!] Louis thought feverishly, as he blushed. [She's so beautiful!] Finally, a nervous stutter managed to force it's way past Louis' lips "I-I'm f-fine."

"Good. I'm glad." Superwoman said, before turning to attempt to fly away.

"Wait!" Louis called out.

"Yes?" Superwoman asked, turning back around.

"W-Who are you? Why are you here?" Louis asked, his eyes wide with wonder.

Superwoman smiled warmly "I'm Superwoman!" she proudly declared, placing her hands on her hips. "And I'm here to protect you and all the other citizens of Metropolis!" She concluded dramatically , before jumping skyward and soaring away. Before she was gone, however, Louis snatched his camera from the passanger seat, took aim, and snapped a picture of her in full view, flying away.

"Wow." Was the only word he could muster.

The next day, Louis dropped that day's edition of the Planet like a dead weight on Clara's desk in front of her. A cocky look crossed his face. The headline read "Metropolis Heroine Has a Name: Superwoman!" the byline read "Story by Louis Lane". "Read it and weep, Clarybelle. The Chief has done nothing but thank me for this breakout story! And, may I add, the first actual picture of Superwoman, and her name, to boot! Looks like you're out of a job, sugar!" He said with a smirk.

Clara merely chuckled and said with a smile, "Don't count me out yet, Louis."

Louis just shrugged and said "In any case, I have a meeting with Mister Wilbur Saint at 8:00 tonight, and I'm going to confront him with the evidence of his money laundering! He'll have no choice but to resign."

"Oh, Louis, please be careful!" Clara said in a worried voice.

"Don't worry, Clarybelle. If dear Mister Saint gives me trouble, Superwoman will save me." Louis said, sure of himself, as he walked out of the office with his head held high.

Clara sighed as she watched Louis leave, thinking in a concerned voice [I hope I will, Louis.] She still didn't understand about the feelings she was experiencing for this arrogant man. How could she possibly love someone that always made fun of her? Still, as unsure as she was about these feelings, she couldn't deny them.

8:00 came around several hours later and Louis arrived at the WBGH building, ready to blow the lid off of a story he was sure would gain him even more acclaim. But as he entered the elevator, he was unaware of the danger about to befall him. And all of Metropolis for that matter!

"Well, he's on his way up here to talk to me, so don't screw it up this time!" Wilbur irately told Kurt and his friends, now dressed in black trenchcoats and hats that looked more than a little like Gestapo uniforms, as they stood in front of his desk.

"Yes, Herr Saint, just leave everything to us." Kurt said assuredly, holding a black gloved hand up to calm his employer.

"Well, he should be here any minute now, so you boys go ahead and hide in the closet. Wait for the signal, and remember, I want him alive, so no gunplay!" Saint sternly ordered as the three men entered the rather small and cramped closet. Saint then pushed the lever down on his intercom. "Samantha, you're excused for the rest of the evening." He told his secretary in a kind, easygoing voice.

"Thank you, . Good night." Samantha kindly responded.

A moment later there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Saint happily called out.

Louis opened the door and entered, a sly smile on his face. "Hello, Mr. Saint." He greeted with much reservation in his voice. The two men shook hands.

"Well, Mr. Lane, won't you take a seat?" Saint to the chair opposite him with his hand, and the pearly grin of a politician.

"Don't mind if I do." Louis said, seating himself, and then crossing his left leg over the right.

"Now, would you mind telling me what neccesitated this visit, Mr. Lane?" Wilbur asked, cocking one of his thin, greying eyebrows up with curiosity.

At this sentence, the door to the closet quietly opened and the three German agents emerged, and without a sound, crept up behind Louis.

"Well, as a matter of fact, Mr. Saint, it's about your involvement in your dear friend Mr. Karlsson's money laundering plot."  
Louis said, laying it on as thick as the finest maple syrup.

"Really, Mr. Lane?" Saint said with false surprise in his eyes. As he said this, Kurt produced a blackjack frim a pocket inside his coat and cocked his arm back.

"Why, yes, Mr. Saint." Louis said, leaning foreward, glaring at Saint. "In fact, I have..UNGHH!" Louis began, only to have Kurt bring the blackjack down hard on the crown of his head with a loud slap!

"Good work. Now tie him up! There's work to be done!" Saint briskly ordered, rising from his chair.

It was now 10:00. The Planet was just beginning to close down. As Clara was getting ready to leave, she was wondering uneasily about Louis. Sure, meetings took a long time, but still, the very nature of the meeting had her worried sick. What if Saint had planned to ambush Louis? What if he had been shot? What if he had never made it to the meeting and was lying in an alley, bleeding to death? As Clara carried these thoughts in her head, she had an epiphany! She couldn't ignore why she was having these feelings. It was love. She was in love with Louis! She had a strong feeling that beneath his spiteful exterior was a kind, gentle man. In any case, it was her duty see if he was alright. As she exited the Planet's door, she saw that a taxi was approaching. She reached out her arm and hailed it.

Inside Saint's office, a radio and microphone set had been brought up, and Ludwig, a pair of headphones over his ears was speaking into the microphone in rapid German. An answer faintly crackled from the headphones. Ludwig then turned to Kurt and said "Sie sagten, sie werde in einer Viertelstunde gelangen."

Kurt then turned to Saint and said "The pilots said that they shall arrive in fifteen minutes."

Saint merely smiled and said "Good. Very good." Before saying "Then it's nearly time for "The Broadcast."  
In a sinister voice.

Kurt then turned to Diederich and ordered "Achten Sie darauf!" authoritively. Diederich nodded and excused his bulky frame from the room.

At this moment, Louis moaned and began to raise his head.

Saint smiled devilishly. "Good to see that you're conscious, . I was beginning to worry that my friend Kurt here had overdone it." He said with mock empathy.

"Mmmnngh, You'll never get away with this, Saint! My friend Superwoman will stop you!" Louis moaned as though he were half awake.

"Oh, but we're quite prepared for that sorry excuse for a woman, for the might of the Luftwaffe shall reduce her, you, and this entire city to rubble! And so that those lousy authorities don't try to interfere, we shall send out a signal across the airwaves, so potent, that even people within 5 yards of a radio, will be rendered completely incapacitated! Then this country shall know the true crushing power of the Fatherland!" Saint explained, concluding with a shriek that closely resembled the dispicable being that he had sworn his allegiance to.

"Nazi's!" Louis quietly exclaimed to himself with wide eyed fright, his breath catching in his throat. Before thinking desperately [Oh, Superwoman, please hurry!]

The tired looking technician was going about his buisiness in the control room, when suddenly, Diederich burst in, he was carrying a long, coiled, cable, and his terrible face twisted in a gruesome snarl.

"Who in blazes are you?!" The technician exclaimed in an surprised voice.

Without responding, Diederich quickly pulled a Luger out of the shoulder holster hidden by his coat, and shot the man square in the chest at close range. With a groan, the man slumped to the side, blood beginning to pour from his wound. With no emotion whatsoever on his face, Diederich quickly pushed the man's body out of the chair, and took the seat. He then took the cable, and removed the plug that broadcast the current radio signal, and taking in the cable that he had in his hand, plugged the free end, a strange looking device that still managed to fit, into the feed socket.

Louis, a gag in his mouth, struggled and grunted in the chair that he was tied to, as Kurt, a pair of tough looking, silver ear coverings took the microphone attached to Diederich's cable in his hands, and said with a nearly flawless American accent "And now, here with a special message is the owner of WBGH, Wilbur Saint." He then handed the microphone to Saint, who was also wearing protective earware.

"Citizens of Metropolis. I am speaking to you now, because I know of the grave concern on your minds in these troubled times." Saint began in a somber tone. "Droughts, famines, hunger, utter poverty, civil unrest in Europe. Well I declare that today, my associates and I shall do all that we can to extinguish this problem, starting NOW!" he suddenly shouted.

In the control room, Diederich heard his cue, and flipped a small switch on the plug he had placed in the socket. Then, an extremely low, vibrating tone, similar to the rumbling of an earthquake, emitted from the station's tower, in an instant, it completely paralyzed all of the other stations emitting from the radio, even if a set had been turned off, the sound still came through loud and clear.

The effect was terrifying, all over the city, families quietly listening to the set together collapsed in an untidy heap onto the ground, people on the street fell where they stood, automobile drivers fell asleep at the wheel, colliding into buildings, trees, and other cars! It was completely terrifying!

Clara, standing on a curb outside the WBGH building, couldn't believe what she saw and heard! It was if the whole town was dying or falling into a deep sleep! Clara could hear the sound that seemed to be the cause of it alright, but because of her strong Kryptonian constitution, instead of making her drowsy, it was just an annoyance to her, like a buzzing fly that needed to be swatted! The sound seemed to be eminating from the building. Clara adjusted her super hearing to the window at the very top of the building. It was the only one in it's vicinity with it's lights on, and listened, sure enough she heard what appeared to be Saint's voice saying "Alright, Diederich, kill it!" The annoying noise stopped.

Clara used her X-Ray vision, in combination with her super vision, and saw a picture appear of Saint and the three men in black.

Saint spoke up again. "Well, that should keep them out for several hours, long enough to have this lousy city burned to the ground and for us to arrive in Berlin for a hero's welcome!" He said, very proud of himself. "Anyway, the pilots know not to attack this building until we're already airborne, and I've given them the signal."

[My goodness!] Clara thought with horror. [Saint's a Nazi agent, and he's going to destroy the city! I've got to stop him!] Then she had another thought [But what has he done with Louis?]

As if to answer her, Saint then spoke in a more easygoing tone. "And now, Mr. Lane, since you won't tell me how you found out about my little side project, we shall say goodbye..forever." he finished with a cold, heartless voice. Clara saw, a little ways away from them, Louis, bound and gagged in a chair! He was either dead or unconcious!

Clara had seen enough! She quickly looked for someplace to transform. She spotted a phone booth on the corner. It would have to do! Clara quickly removed her hat before stepping in, saying mightily "This looks like a job for Superwoman!" Upon stepping in, Clara quickly removed her glasses and undid her hair bun. In a flash she stripped off her outer clothing, and emerged from the booth as Superwoman! Superwoman, in one powerful bound, jumped all the way up to the high window, and smashed right through it!

At this, Saint, and all the Nazi's, who were now in the room, spun around with surprise on their faces! "Superwoman!" Saint exclaimed with shock.

"Oh, nein! Es ist der Super Frau!" Ludwig shouted.

Louis was completely unresponsive, having been exposed to the radio signal.

"Saint, if you've murdered Mr. Lane, I promise you.." Superwoman began with a glare that could melt ice.

"No, not yet, you trifiling hag! But now you both shall be!" He turned to the agents and said "Kill her!" As he bolted for the door.

The men, on command, whipped out their Lugers and began firing, as usual however, the lead projectiles merely bounced off of Superwoman's body and harmlessly onto the floor. After the men had quickly run out of ammo, Superwoman, was on them in a flash, snatching them off of the floor by their shirt collars as if they were balloons! Then, just as Saint was placing his hand on the doorknob, Superwoman had rushed over to him in the blink of an eye, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, and pulling him away from the door. The Nazi's then pulled hard, sharp knives from the waistbands of their trousers, and stabbed her with all their might. But upon the blades making contact with Superwoman's skin, they only crumpled like tin foil!

Saint looked Superwoman square in the eye in a cocky manner and said with a scoff "Hmph! You think that just because you've caught us, that you win? Sorry, but the Luftwaffe will be here shortly to blow this place to glory! In fact, I think I hear them now!"

Superwoman listened. Yes, she could clearly hear the sound of many plane engines buzzing. Through the shattered window, she looked out, and, using her super vision, could see about two dozen German air force planes, the black iron cross on their doors, the sinister Swastika on their tail fins, hovering towards Metropolis, from over the ocean!

At this, Superwoman merely turned back to face Saint, she smirked and shrugged indifferently. "No problem." She calmly said, before spontaneously asking "Going up?" as if she were an elevator attendant.

Saint's face fell with confusion "W-What?" he asked, uncertainly.

Then, without warning, Superwoman lept upwards, smashing through the cement of the buiding's ceiling until they were past the roof and hovering right next to the radio tower's large antennae.

"Wh-What do you think you're doing?!" a slightly scratched and bruised Saint asked in a petrified voice, his Nazi comrades equally as scared.

"Just putting you somewhere where I can get to you while I take care of your flyboy pals." Superwoman casually answered, before effortlessly ripping a somewhat medium piece of steel from the tower and wrapped it around the four men, pinning to the antennae! "Don't fall now, boys! It's a pretty far drop!" Superwoman said teasingly as she was met with loud cursing and pleading from her captives.

Superwoman quickly dropped back down the hole, and approached Louis, easily snapping his ropes and gag. She then carefully shook him. "Louis! Louis, Wake up!" she said urgently.

Louis moaned softly, before slowly coming to. "Superwoman! You're here!" He happily exclaimed, embracing her, before realizing something "Wait. How do you know my name?" He asked curiously.

"I know a lot about everybody, Louis." Superwoman said without missing a beat, pulling away from Louis' hug. "We've got to get that head of yours looked at, but first, I have to protect the city! Stay right here!" Superwoman ordered, before jumping out the broken window. Louis just stood there in shock as he stared out the window after her.

Superwoman jettisoned towards the death squadron faster than a bullet launched from a firearm. As she did, she quickly calculated how to properly dispose of them [Hmm. If I take them out one at a time, they'll have already taken out a quarter of Metropolis.] Suddenly, one fighter dropped a large bomb from the bay doors onto the dock, causing a large explosion that took out a large chunk of it. Thankfully, the dock was abondoned and no lives had been lost, still this caused Superwoman's mind to shift to manic overdrive. [Hurry! Think, Clara, think!] Then, with no time to spare, she quickly zoomed down to the dock, and with one strong gust of her breath, she extinguished the fire! She then noticed that most of the boxes on the undamaged part of the docks read "Large Fishing Net, Qty.1" Suddenly, Superwoman had a brilliant idea! "That's it!" she exclaimed. She would have to work fast, but if executed properly, it would be a surefire solution. Superwoman then became a blue, red and white blur as she, moving faster than the eye could see, wrenched the boxes open, took all of the nets out, then tied them end to end to end! Once she had used them all, and was satisfied that her plan would work, she took to the sky again, the large sheet of netting following her like a large collection of rain clouds!

Superwoman, moving much faster then the speed of light, sped ahead of the evil Axis fleet and then, suddenly jolted upwards,  
obscuring the pilot's vison with the gargantuan net! From the cockpits there were shouts of "was?!" "Was ist los?!" and "Schalten Sie zur Seite! Die Seite!" But it was too late. Superwoman was alrady looping the titanic trap around the entire fleet, tying both ends together neatly. The planes smashed into one another, becoming bunched up, engines sputtered and died,  
no one could exit any of the planes because of the tight grip of the net!

As Superwoman soared back to the WBGH bulding, holding the large net full of heavy enemy aircraft in one hand like it was a pillow filled with feathers, Louis' eyes remained bugged out with shock, he fell to his knees in utter disbelief.

Superwoman floated up to the men tied to the tower and loosening the steel support, and sliding it off the antanne, before tightening it again, and holding the three men in her free hand by gripping the steel wrapped around them. "Come on, boys, it's off to the Police Station with you!" Superwoman said in a disciplinary voice.

The Nazi's remained silent with fury, and Saint merely hung his head down with shame and defeat, muttering "Impossible, impossible." to himself.

Superwoman then hovered down to the broken window to face Louis, saying with a friendly grin "Hop on my back, Louis, and I'll give you a ride!" in a pleasently happy voice.

Louis' look of shock was slowly replaced by a look of eagerness. He silently obeyed, putting his arm around Superwoman's neck, and hopping onto her back. Superwoman turned to look at him and advised "Hold on tight!" Before soaring off into the sky! Louis couldn't believe it, he was flying with Superwoman! The very thought sent his heart aflutter, as he felt the gentle evening wind in his hair.

Superwoman landed in front of the Police Headquarters and dumped the net of planes off at the doorstep like it was a load of dirty laundry! She then tied the metal that held the four agents high on the lampost next to the station, saying, "Well, since it'll be a while when the Police wake up from the sleep that you boys put them in, you'd better get comfortable!"  
She then took Louis off her back and, taking him in her arms, zipped off again, leaving the villains to stew in their own grief.

Superwoman dropped Louis off at Metropolis General Hospital, saying "You'll find some bandages and plaster for your head in here, sorry I can't stay, Louis, but I've got to be going." She told him.

But as she turned to leave, Louis put his hand on her shoulder and said "Wait, Superwoman!" urgently.

Superwoman turned back around and asked "What is it Louis?"

Louis sighed and said with a steady tone "Look, I've got to know. Why didn't you just kill all of those Nazi scumbags instead of leaving them for the police to arrest?"

Superwoman then adopted a warm, maternal smile on her face and said calmy and lovingly "Because, Louis, every human life is precious. Even if they're mean or malicious." She then lept skyward, leaving Louis to stare after her, his mind trying to comprehend what he had just been through.

The Headline in the Planet two days later read "Superwoman Foils Nazi Ambush Plot; Radio King Saint unmasked As Cheif Conspirator!" the byline read "Story by Louis Lane" the sub headlines on the front page read "Superwoman Vanishes From Sight" "Hitler Hopping Mad" and "Roosevelt Announces Retaliation Plans".

In the Planet offices, Louis, bandages and plaster adorning his head, was proudly showing the front page to Clara. "Looks like I outscooped you again, Clarybelle!" he said pridefully.

"Looks like it." Clara said with a friendly smile.

Suddenly, Louis' exterior seemed to soften a little bit. "Listen, Clara. I kind of feel bad for your stories always having to linger in my shadow, so I thought I'd give you the immense pleasure of having lunch with me." He said boastfully, rising from his chair.

Clara simply smiled again, saying with extreme humility "Why of course, Louis. I'd be honored." Clara said, standing up as well, and going for her hat.

As Louis opened the door, and politely allowed her to exit first, Clara turned to him, and said "Boy, from what I hear, we nearly caught it bad a couple nights ago!"

As Louis followed her, he responded in a grateful voice "Yeah, Clarybelle, but we're all safe now, thanks to Superwoman!"

Before the door closes behind them, however, Clara turns back to us with a mighty smile, pulls down her glasses, and playfully winks!

THE END 


End file.
